MARCH 14, 2012 — Americans Elect, the first national online primary for president, today announced it has started gathering signatures of registered voters in Texas to secure a line on the state ballot for this year’s presidential election.
The state of Texas requires 49,729 signatures of registered voters to gain a line on the statewide ballot, and Americans Elect intends to collect 100,000 signatures to satisfy that requirement.
“Americans Elect continues to gain ballot access state by state to provide voters in Texas and across the country with another choice for president this November,” said Elliot Ackerman, COO of Americans Elect. “We are creating a second nominating process for president by holding an online primary for the first time in history, bypassing the two-party system and giving every voter a chance to have their voice heard regardless of where they live.”
Americans Elect has already collected more than 80 percent of the 2.9 million signatures of voters required for national ballot access and gained certification in 18 states, including Wyoming, Arizona, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Nevada, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, New Mexico, Maine and Montana.
Once the petition drive is complete, the signatures will be submitted to the Texas Secretary of State’s office for certification – and a line on the general election ballot this November. Texans frustrated with a delayed primary do not have to settle for a muted voice in this election. Americans Elect puts every voter on a level playing field in directly nominating their ideal candidate, no matter what district or state they live in.
All registered Texas voters are encouraged to become Americans Elect delegates right now by signing up at AmericansElect.org, where they can debate the issues, develop the Platform of Questions every candidate must answer and select a candidate for presidentin the first-ever national online primary this June. Americans Elect is leveraging the power of technology to give every voter the ability to pick a president, not a party.
“Nearly 2.5 million voters across the country have already signed our petitions and signaled their support for a serious third choice for president this year,” said Ackerman. “We will achieve national ballot access this year, and in doing so, fundamentally change the way we nominate our president.”
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CONTACT:
ILEANA WACHTEL
310.702.4240
ILEANA.WACHTEL@AMERICANSELECT.ORG
ALLISON GRANT
202.677.7025
ALLISON.GRANT@AMERICANSELECT.ORG
Rocky Anderson in 2009
Former    announced yesterday that he will seek the U.S. presidential nomination of Americans Elect, an independent organization hoping to field a nonpartisan presidential ticket.  Anderson is already the nominee of the , which he founded late last year.

Anderson served as mayor of Salt Lake City from 2000 to 2008 as a Democrat.  During his time in office, he enacted proposals to reduce the city's carbon emissions and reformed its criminal justice system. After leaving office, he grew critical of President Barack Obama, and left the Democratic Party. He later established the Justice Party, which promotes "social justice, environmental justice, and economic justice" as well as . The party has qualified for the ballot in Utah and Mississippi.

Americans Elect has already attained ballot access in eighteen states, and is petitioning to appear in all fifty.  It hopes to nominate a ticket "responsive to the vast majority of citizens while remaining independent of special interests and the partisan interests of either major political party." Former Louisiana   and economist  have both announced their intentions to seek the party's nomination. Additionally, former  and 2012  presidential candidate  has received recent speculation that he will make a run for the nomination with former Democratic Senator  as his .

In a press release, Anderson explained, "The Democrats and Republicans no longer respect nor represent the public interest. They both feed from the same trough of, and depend upon, special interest money", but Americans Elect "gives the American people the ability to select their choice for President without worrying about the corporate investors backing their campaign."