Ballot Access Requirements in Congressional Elections

Abstract

Ballot access laws attempt to limit the number and type of candidates who qualify to have their name appear on official ballots. A study was conducted of the relationship between the difficulty of access requirements and the number of congressional candidates from 1968 through 1976. Incumbency and electoral margin also were used as predictor variables. Ballot access requirements helped to explain the number of candidates running in House elections but not for the Senate contests. Incumbency and electoral competition variables were found to influence candidate competition for both houses in the primary but only for the House in general elections. Although the ballot access requirements have some effect on the opportunities for candidacy, the political factors have an independent effect which may be more important than the formal requirements in some circumstances.