By Constitution Staff

Only the Democrat and Republican nominees for president will be on November 6 General Election ballot in Oklahoma. On September 13, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a group claiming to be the state chapter of the Americans Elect Party lacked authority to place names on the ballot. The group said it held an online convention in July and selected Libertarian Party candidates Gary Johnson as its nominee for president and James Gray for vice president.

Oklahomans have not had a third party presidential choice since 2000 when the Libertarian Party candidates were listed on the presidential ballot. In the 2004 and 2008 elections, Oklahoma was the only state to include only the Democrat and Republican presidential nominees on the ballot. Likewise, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the Democrat and Republican nominees, will be the only choices this year.

To be a recognized political party in Oklahoma, a group must gather the signatures of registered voters equal to at least 5 percent of the vote cast for the office at the top of the ticket in the last general election. This year, based on the votes cast in the 2010 gubernatorial race, a party needed 51,739 valid signatures. Oklahoma Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax announced at the end of March that the Americans Elect Party had turned in about 90,000 signatures, and that 68,424 were determined to be registered voters. Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party turned in about 56,000 signatures, but only 41,070 were determined to be valid.

In August, election officials sought advice from the state attorney general's office after Rex Lawhorn, chairman of the Oklahoma Americans Elect Party, submitted seven electors for the Libertarian candidates. But, just one day earlier, Kahil Byrd, a director of the national Americans Elect Party, sent a letter to election officials announcing that the party was withdrawing its ballot line and terminating its status as a qualified party in Oklahoma. Lawhorn told election officials that members of the newly formed Oklahoma Americans Elect Party met and agreed to have the Libertarian Party candidates listed as their party's nominees. When the state Election Board refused to place the candidates on the ballot, the group filed a lawsuit.

Former Oklahoma Gov. and U.S. Sen. David Boren gave his support to the Americans Elect effort to gain a place on the ballot and spoke at the press conference following the delivery of the signatures to the state Election Board. As the controversy erupted concerning the efforts of the local group, Boren announced he was no longer involved.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Neal Leader said during arguments before a Supreme Court referee at a hearing in early September, that national party officials never authorized the formation of a local party group or committee in Oklahoma, nor did they file the paperwork nor complete the necessary tasks to be recognized as a political party in the state.

Chief Justice Steven Taylor, writing for the court in its unanimous ruling, said that Oklahoma laws regulate the recognition of political parties and the placement of presidential electors on the ballot and that the Oklahoma Americans Elect Party members were never authorized to act on behalf of the Americans Elect Party. "While this court recognizes the importance of choice and ballot access in elections, the law does not permit unauthorized groups to usurp the status of recognized political parties simply because those parties chose not to run candidates or chose to disband," Taylor wrote. "If petitioners wish to become a recognized political party in Oklahoma, then they are required to go through the formation and recognition process (detailed in state law)."

The Americans Elect Party announced in May that despite raising $35 million, securing a place on the November ballot in all 50 states, and registering more than 400,000 online delegates, that no candidate had attracted sufficient support to proceed to a national convention.

Americans Elect was incorporated on April 6, 2010 by Peter Ackerman who serves as chairman and kicked off the venture with a $5 million contribution. Ackerman was an Obama supporter in 2008 and abandoned a similar online effort that year called Unity08. The CEO of the organization is Kahlil Byrd, a Republican who formerly served as communications director for Democrat Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Patrick's chief campaign strategist was David Axelrod who is Obama's chief political strategist. The group's advisory board includes Lawrence Lessig, an Obama technology adviser.

According to its bylaws, Americans Elect intended to host a national online primary ending with a convention in June. It opened its website to begin recruiting delegates for the 2012 Presidential Primary in July 2011. The first phase of voting in the online primary was to identify the six most popular candidates to advance to the second phase of the primary after accepting the Americans Elect nomination and selecting a Vice-Presidential running mate affiliated with any party other than their own. By the end of the second phase, the six finalists were to be narrowed down to two. Americans Elect would then choose its final candidate through an internet based convention..

Announcing the end of their effort, Byrd said in a statement on the Americans Elect website: "There is a desire among Delegates and millions of Americans who have supported Americans Elect to see a credible candidate emerge from this process. However, the rules, as developed in consultation with the Americans Elect Delegates, are clear. As of this week, no candidate achieved the national support threshold required to enter the Americans Elect Online Convention in June. The primary process for the Americans Elect nomination has come to an end."

Under its rules, candidates were required to generate online votes of at least 1,000 people in each of at least 10 states. Of the candidates who made themselves available, the frontrunner was Buddy Roemer, the former governor of Louisiana. But, he only garnered 5,979 supporters -- more than 4,000 short in total and even further behind on an individual state basis. Among the candidates "drafted" by delegates, Ron Paul topped the list with 9,337 supporters, which was still under the threshold. Also, Paul was still running as a presidential candidate for the Republican Party and refused to make himself available for the American's Elect nomination. More than 95% of delegates failed to back any candidate.

Skeptics charge that the group's real mission was to divide the anti-Obama vote. While third-party presidential candidates never win, they usually tilt the outcome to the Democrat candidate. In 1992, Bill Clinton won the presidency with 43% of the vote, with Ross Perot siphoning off 20%, leaving President George Bush with 38%. In the presidential election of 1912, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was victorious with 42% of the vote, while Republican President William Howard Taft finished third with 23% of the vote, behind former President Theodore Roosevelt who received 27%.

Ackerman has hinted that he might be interested in an effort to recruit a wave of congressional candidates in 2014.