The Kansas secretary of state on Wednesday reversed course and agreed to designate the No Labels movement in Kansas as an official political party.
The designation means that Kansas will now have four official political parties: Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and now No Labels.
No Labels has been working on a national level to form a third-party presidential ticket – called a “unity ticket” – that could bring together a moderate Republican and Democrat on a presidential ticket.
Last September, No Labels filed a petition with the secretary of state’s office to become an officially recognized political party in Kansas.
The movement needed 20,180 signatures to be recognized as a political party along with the Democrats, Republicans and the Libertarians.
But in October, Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s office notified the state chair of No Labels Kansas – Glenda Reynolds of Whitewater – that the petition was not legally sufficient.
State law required the petition to be submitted to the secretary of state’s office within 180 days of the first signature on the petition.
The petition had 35,148 signatures, more than the 20,180 needed to qualify under law as a political party.
But the secretary of state’s office found that multiple signatures on the petition were made prior to 180 days before Sept. 1.
As a result, the petition was deemed null and void.
In November, the No Labels group sued the state, asking a judge to reverse the secretary of state’s decision not to recognize its petition to start a new political party.
No Labels, which hired the group Capitol Advisors to gather signatures, contended that the secretary of state’s office made a mistake.
The lawsuit says the first pages of the petition were printed March 28 of this year, making it impossible for a signature to have been collected before March 29.
“Even when faced with irrefutable evidence that it was factually impossible for the signatures to be obtained more than 180 days before the petition’s submission date, the secretary stood by his determination to prohibit No Labels from being recognized as a political party in Kansas,” the lawsuit says.
The secretary of state’s office didn’t address the lawsuit in its statement designating No Labels as a political party.
The secretary of state said that No Labels Kansas met the requirements by submitting a petition containing the signatures of registered voters equal to 2% of the total votes cast in the 2022 statewide gubernatorial general election.
The office said the signatures on the petition were validated by county election officials who reported their results to the Secretary of State’s office as stipulated by law.
No Labels cannot participate in the August primary election or the presidential primary.
It must nominate candidates for the November general election by convention or caucus.
No Labels was already on the ballot in 13 states before the Kansas secretary of state’s announcement Wednesday.
It most recently got on the ballot in Maine. The group is on the ballot in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota and Utah.
It also has already filed for ballot access or is actively gathering signatures in 14 others.
Getting recognized as an official party in Kansas makes it easier for No Labels to get a candidate on the ballot for any political office from president on down.
Each officially recognized party in Kansas is required to adopt procedures to select presidential electors.
The party picks the presidential candidate it supports, but it must give the secretary of state the names of six electors who would support that candidate by Sept. 1, 2024.
Last fall, Axios reported that No Labels would not hold a convention this spring in Dallas and instead conduct a virtual selection process.
Nationally, the No Labels movement has stirred anxiety among Democrats who fear that it could draw votes away from President Joe Biden and help former President Donald Trump or a similar type of Republican candidate.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan recently left his position as co-chair of No Labels, leading to speculation the moderate Republican would run for president under the group’s banner.
Polling is unclear about the future of so-called unity ticket.
A poll by Monmouth University last summer suggested that the fallout from a so-called “fusion ticket” of a Republican and Democrat in 2024 is difficult to measure.
The survey of 910 adults found that about 30% would support a generic third party “fusion” ticket made up of a Democrat and a Republican.
Five percent said they would definitely vote for the third-party option if Biden and Trump were the major party nominees, and another 25% say they would probably vote third party.
Meanwhile, 31% say they definitely would not support a fusion ticket and 34% probably would not.
The survey found that support for a third-party ticket drops lower when names of possible candidates are added to the question such as U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and former Utah Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman.
Manchin and Huntsman appeared last July at a forum held by No Labels in New Hampshire.
Monmouth measured Manchin and Huntsman as an alternative ticket to a Biden-Trump campaign.
The poll found that 2% of voters would definitely vote for that third-party option and 14% would probably vote for the fusion ticket.
The survey also found that 44% definitely would not vote for a Manchin-Huntsman ticket and 31% probably would not.
