POLITICS : States’ Ballot Rules Are Often Vexing to Presidential Hopefuls

Presidential candidates have to do more than get their message to voters--they have to get their names on the ballot. And that can be more difficult.

Each state writes its own rules, often in conjunction with the political parties. The result is a patchwork of provisions, deadlines and standards that President Bush’s challengers for the Republican nomination, conservative pundit Patrick J. Buchanan and former Ku Klux Klan grand dragon David Duke, find particularly vexing.

The aggravation could become bipartisan if more Democrats decide to enter the race. Filing deadlines in 21 states have passed--so a slight majority of the convention delegates already are out of reach. By the end of this week, the New York deadline will have passed, too.

SOUTH DAKOTA: For an example of Buchanan’s tribulations, take South Dakota. He has accused officials there of misleading him about what he had to do to get on the ballot; they contend he simply missed the deadline. To run in the Feb. 25 primary, Republicans must get their supporters to county caucuses in December. If at least three don’t attend the first caucus Dec. 2--Buchanan’s didn’t--the candidate cannot run.

If you’re a South Dakota Democrat, however, your candidate’s seriousness is measured in dollars: He or she must have raised $50,000 for the campaign. This year, eight candidates, including all the major ones, qualified.

GEORGIA: One of Duke’s battlegrounds is Georgia, where the secretary of state lists the names of nationally known candidates to be reviewed by a bipartisan presidential committee. At the panel’s first meeting, if three members of a party oppose a candidate from their party, the candidate is out. At a second meeting, a candidate can be reinstated--or a new one recognized--if at least one member of his party consents.

Duke struck out both times. That is why he is in court, fighting for a place on Georgia’s March 3 ballot.

NEW YORK: This state’s rules are the most convoluted. Republican candidates’ names are not even on the ballot; names of delegates pledged to them are. To qualify, a delegate must collect 1,250 signatures, or sign up 5% of the registered GOP voters in his or her congressional district. If a candidate doesn’t attract a full slate of delegates, he’s out of luck. Although the primary is April 7, the GOP filing deadline was Feb. 6. Bush’s delegates will be named on the ballot; Buchanan’s failed to qualify.

New York’s Democratic Party requires candidates to file a petition bearing the signatures of 10,000 registered Democrats with the State Board of Elections by Feb. 13--but not before Feb. 10. The petition must have at least 100 signatures from each of 17 of the state’s 34 congressional districts. Candidates’ names appear on the ballot--with those of their delegates, who each had to collect 1,000 signatures, or those of 1% of the registered Democrats in their districts. Democrats vote for a candidate, delegates or both.

Former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. has complained about the number of signatures required and the money that must be spent to collect them. But New York Democrats, unlike Republicans, can get delegates after the primary if they win more of the popular vote than their delegates on the ballot represented. The party fills the vacancies at a convention.

CALIFORNIA: By comparison, California is one of the few large states that would not shut out a late-starting candidate. The filing deadline for the June 2 primary is March 6. The secretary of state lists those who have qualified for federal matching funds and those who are nationally recognized. If a Democrat’s name is omitted, he can collect signatures of 1% of the party’s registered voters, or 500 in each of the 52 congressional districts, whichever is least. In other words, he needs a minimum of 26,000 voters’ signatures. A Republican who does not make the list must sign up 1% of the party’s registered voters--5.1 million at last count--so a GOP contender needs more than 51,000 signatures.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: All states aren’t so difficult. There’s a reason New Hampshire names 62 candidates on its Feb. 18 ballot--aside from its status as the state with the earliest primary. Each candidate has only to file a declaration and pay $1,000.