Missouri Laws 115.321 – Independent candidate, how nominated
1. Any person desiring to be an independent candidate for any office to be filled by voters throughout the state, or for any congressional district, state senate district, state representative district, or circuit judge district, shall file a petition with the secretary of state. Any person desiring to be an independent candidate for any county office shall file a petition with the election authority of the county.
2. Each page or a sheet attached to each page of each petition for the nomination of an independent candidate shall:
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 115.321
- Ballot: the paper ballot, or ballot designed for use with an electronic voting system on which each voter may cast all votes to which he or she is entitled at an election. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- County: any county in this state or any city not within a county. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- District: an area within the state or within a political subdivision of the state from which a person is elected to represent the area on a policy-making body with representatives of other areas in the state or political subdivision. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- General election: means the election required to be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November, biennially. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Independent: a candidate who is not a candidate of any political party and who is running for an office for which political party candidates may run. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Special election: elections called by any school district, water district, fire protection district, or other district formed pursuant to the laws of Missouri to provide limited, specific services. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
(1) Declare concisely the intention to nominate an independent candidate;
(2) State the name and address, including street and number, of the independent candidate. If independent candidates for presidential elector are to be nominated, a number of independent candidates for presidential elector equal to the number of electors to which the state is entitled shall be nominated by one petition, and the name of their candidate for president and the name of their candidate for vice president shall be printed on each page or a sheet attached to each page of the petition. At least one qualified resident of each congressional district shall be named as a nominee for presidential elector, and the name and address of each candidate shall be printed on each page or a sheet attached to each page of the petition. The names of the candidates for president and vice president shall not be printed on the official ballot without the written consent of such persons. Their written consent shall accompany and be deemed part of the petition;
(3) State the office for which candidate is to be nominated.
3. If an independent candidate is to be nominated for a statewide office, the petition shall be signed by at least ten thousand registered voters of the state.
4. If the independent candidate is to be nominated for a district or county office, the petition shall be signed by the number of registered voters in the district or county which is equal to at least two percent of the total number of voters who voted at the last election for candidates for the office being sought or is equal to ten thousand voters, whichever is less.
5. The name of each person who files a valid petition for nomination as an independent candidate shall be placed on the official ballot as an independent candidate for the office at the next general election or the special election if the petition nominates a candidate to fill a vacancy which is to be filled at a special election. If presidential electors are nominated by the petition, the names of the candidates for elector shall not be placed on the official ballot, but the name of their candidate for president and the name of their candidate for vice president shall be placed on the official ballot at the next presidential election.