Americans Elect has filed preliminary paperwork to begin petition drives in North Carolina and Oklahoma, two of the most difficult states in the nation for minor parties to get on the ballot for President. On October 3, Americans Elect notified the Oklahoma State Election Board that it is about to start the party petition in that state, which requires 51,739 valid signatures. And on October 12, Americans Elect submitted a sample petition to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, so that the Board can check that the form is proper. The North Carolina drive will need 85,379 valid signatures.

Other unqualified parties that have notified the Oklahoma State Election Board that they intend to attempt to qualify for the ballot are the Libertarian, Constitution, and Pirate Parties. As far as is known, the only other party is petitioning in North Carolina is the Constitution Party. The Libertarian Party is already on the North Carolina ballot for 2012.

The only truly difficult petition drives that Americans Elect hasn’t started yet are the Texas and Indiana drives. Texas law does not permit the petition to circulate until after the March 2012 primary. Indiana’s only ballot access procedure requires a stand-in presidential candidate to be listed on the form, and Americans Elect has not decided whom to list as the stand-in.