Important Filing Information
2024 NOMINATION PAPER FILING PERIOD: FEBRUARY 14-AUGUST 1, 2024
- Please download a copy of the nomination paper filing instructions (PDF).
- You must file with your nomination paper a completed and notarized Candidate's Affidavit (PDF).
- If you do not have your Candidate's Affidavit notarized, then you will need to complete and attach an Unsworn Declaration to the Candidate's Affidavit (PDF).
- You must file nomination paper page(s) with the required number of signatures for the office you are seeking (PDF).
- You must file with your nomination paper a copy of your Statement of Financial Interests, if applicable (not required for Federal offices).
- The original Statement of Financial Interests must be filed with the State Ethics Commission on or before the nomination paper filing deadline.
- You must submit with your nomination paper a certified check or money order in the appropriate amount payable to the 'Commonwealth of Pennsylvania' (personal checks and cash cannot be accepted).
- Signature requirements can be found here.
Please note:
- Papers must be printed 2-sided on 8 1/2 x 14" paper, head-to-head.
- Paper pages that are not printed 2-sided will not be accepted.
- Duplicate copies of nomination papers and Candidates Affidavits will not be accepted. You must file originals of these documents.
- Signatures can be gathered only during the nomination paper circulation and filing period.
- Signatures that are dated before the first day to circulate or after the last day to circulate will not be counted.
The deadline to file nomination papers is August 1, 2024.
If you have any questions concerning these instructions, please email ra-elections@pa.gov or call 1-877-868-3772, option 3.
Frequently Asked Questions for Presidential Candidate of Minor Political Parties and Political Bodies
Presidential candidates from a minor political party or political body (and the candidates they have nominated for presidential elector) must file nomination papers to appear on the 2024 Presidential Election ballot. For purposes of the 2024 Presidential Election, this would be Presidential candidates who were not nominated by the Democratic or Republican party.
The terms “minor political party" and “political body" are defined in the Pennsylvania Election Code. For the 2024 Presidential Election, the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian Parties have qualified statewide as political parties, with the Libertarian Party qualifying statewide as a minor political party. All other parties and independent candidates are considered political bodies.
A minor political party must authorize a candidate to file nomination papers with the Department of State. Candidates seeking to appear on the ballot for a of a minor political party should contact the minor political party before filing nomination papers.
August 1 is the deadline to file nomination papers with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Consent Decree, Libertarian Party v. Davis, No. 84-26 (E.D. Pa. June 13, 1984) (establishing August 1 deadline annually).
The Secretary of the Commonwealth will accept nomination papers for presidential candidates which contain 5,000 signatures. See Constitution Party of Pa. v. Cortés, No. 12-2726 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 1, 2018).
Candidates should be aware that the Election Code provides a formula for calculating the number of signatures required for nomination papers, which, for purposes of the 2024 Presidential Election, is 33,043. See 25 P.S. § 2911(b). As a result of the Cortes litigation, the Secretary is not enforcing this requirement. However, a voter or other interested party could file an objection to a candidate whose nomination papers contain only 5,000 signatures, which the state judiciary would need to resolve.
Yes, minor political party and political body candidates for the office of presidential elector must file candidates' affidavits by the August 1 filing deadline. 25 P.S. §§ 2911(e), 2913(a).
Vacancies arising from death or withdrawal can be filled by the same presidential candidate who originally nominated the elector. 25 P.S. § 2878. The Election Code requires that substitutions for withdrawals be made at least 75 days before Election Day, while substitutions for an elector candidate who has died can be made up until ballots are printed. 25 P.S. § 2941. Electors who withdraw or are absent can also be replaced by the remaining electors present on the day the Electoral College meets. 25 P.S. § 3193.
A presidential candidate must nominate 19 individuals to serve as candidates for the office of presidential elector.
No, but any person who is a registered and enrolled member of the Democratic, Republican, or Libertarian party during any period of time beginning thirty (30) days before the primary and extending through the general or municipal election of that same year is ineligible to be a candidate for presidential elector of a political body in a general or municipal election held in that same year. 25 P.S. § 2911(e).