This list of political parties in the United States contains past and present political parties in the United States.
[edit] Current major parties
[edit] Other parties in contention for presidential electoral college majority without help of faithless electors
Typically, in order for a party's nominee to have the possibility of becoming president by majority vote of the electoral college (as opposed to by decision of the United States House of Representatives after an electoral majority has failed to be reached), they must be on the ballot in states whose collective electoral vote total is at least half of the Electoral-College votes. However, since electors in many states are not legally bound to vote for a particular candidate[1], in principle a candidate not meeting this bar may in fact be elected president through the action of such faithless electors in the electoral college. However, such defection are extremely rare, and barring this highly unlikely eventuality, three additional parties had candidates who could have in principle become president via the electoral college in the 2008 Presidential Election.
[edit] Other parties that have nominated candidates in recent elections
These parties have offered candidates in recent elections, but did not have ballot status in enough states in 2008 to win the presidency by majority of the electoral collegea. Some do not have presidential candidates, and only field candidates for Congressional and/or state-level offices.
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^a The 2008 presidential ticket of the Socialist Party USA was qualified in enough states to win the electoral college through a combination of state ballot qualifications and official write-in status.[2]
[edit] Other parties that have not nominated candidates in recent elections
Some of these parties have nominated candidates in the past, but have not done so recently for various reasons. Others have not yet nominated any candidates.
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[edit] Regional parties
Few, if any, of these parties have nominated presidential candidates. The years are when they were founded.
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[edit] Historical political parties
- The following parties are no longer functioning. Some of them had considerable influence. Listed in order of founding.
[edit] See also
[edit] Other lists
[edit] References
[edit] External links
[edit] Further reading
