Constitution Party wins spot on Missouri ballots in 2010, 2012

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- None of its candidates won, but the Constitution Party is celebrating success in Missouri.

Constitution Party treasurer candidate Rodney Farthing got 2.4 percent of the vote in last week's election. That's a large enough proportion to ensure the party a spot on Missouri's 2010 and 2012 ballots.

Under Missouri law, a new political party must receive at least 2 percent of the vote in at least one statewide race to become "an established political party" and guarantee a statewide ballot slot in the next two general elections.

Otherwise, political parties must gather at least 10,000 petition signatures of registered voters to qualify their slate of candidates. The Constitution Party went through the petition process this year.

"We knew that we weren't going to win any seats," said Donna Ivanovich, of Arnold, the Missouri Constitution Party chairwoman. "The goal was to gain our 2 percent so that we would buy some more time basically to educate the people about the Constitution and Declaration of Independence and get them used to our name and field more candidates in the next election."

Ivanovich attributed the party's success to God.

The Constitution Party's accomplishment may have come at the expense of the Libertarian Party, Missouri's most established party after the Democrats and Republicans.

The Libertarian Party failed to reach the 2 percent threshold for any of its statewide candidates in the Nov. 4 election -- a first since it appeared on Missouri's ballot in 1992, said Libertarian Party executive director Greg Tlapek, of Cape Girardeau.

Under Missouri law, a political party loses its reserved ballot spot if it fails to get at least 2 percent or to put forth a statewide candidate in two consecutive elections. That means 2010 will be a make-or-break year for Libertarians.

In the treasurer's race, the Libertarian Party did not field a candidate, leaving the Constitution Party candidate to receive all votes that weren't for Republican or Democratic candidates.

Now that it's won ballot status, the Constitution Party's goal is to build a broader organization and establish local party leaders in each of Missouri's 114 counties and St. Louis by the 2010 election, Ivanovich said.

On the Net:

Constitution Party: http://www.constitutionpartymo.org

Libertarian Party: http://lpmo.org