PART V. 
PARTIES



 



Case Notes



 



  State's prohibition on write-in voting, as part of electoral
scheme providing constitutionally sufficient ballot access, does not impose
unconstitutional burden on voters' rights under First and Fourteenth
Amendments.  504 U.S. 428.



 



§11-61  "Political party" defined. 
(a)  The term "political party" means any party which has qualified
as a political party under sections 11-62 and 11-64 and has not been
disqualified by this section.  A political party shall be an association of
voters united for the purpose of promoting a common political end or carrying
out a particular line of political policy and which maintains a general
organization throughout the State, including a regularly constituted central
committee and county committees in each county other than Kalawao.



(b)  Any party which does not meet the
following requirements or the requirements set forth in sections 11-62 to
11-64, shall be subject to disqualification:



(1)  A party must have had candidates running for
election at the last general election for any of the offices listed in
paragraph (2) whose terms had expired.  This does not include those offices
which were vacant because the incumbent had died or resigned before the end of
the incumbent's term; and



(2)  The party received at least ten per cent of all
votes cast:



(A)  For any of the offices voted upon by all
the voters in the State; or



(B)  In at least fifty per cent of the
congressional districts; or



(3)  The party received at least four per cent of all
the votes cast for all the offices of state senator statewide; or



(4)  The party received at least four per cent of all
the votes cast for all the offices of state representative statewide; or



(5)  The party received at least two per cent of all
the votes cast for all the offices of state senate and all the offices of state
representative combined statewide. [L 1970, c 26, pt of §2; am L 1979, c 125,
§3(1); am L 1983, c 34, §3; am L 1986, c 323, §1; am L 1997, c 287, §1; am L
1999, c 205, §1]



 



Attorney General Opinions



 



  "All votes cast" in determining the qualification
of a political party does not include blank ballots.  Att. Gen. Op. 81-6.



  Change of party name.  Att. Gen. Op. 82-1.