The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Division of Elections recently issued a petition to former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg so his name can appear on Tennessee’s Democratic presidential preference primary ballot on March 3.
This, according to Tennessee Secretary of State spokeswoman Julia Bruck, who told The Tennessee Star the office issued the petition to Bloomberg Tuesday.
According to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website, there are two ways to qualify to appear on March 3’s presidential primary ballot in Tennessee as a Republican or Democratic Party candidate for the presidential nomination.
The Secretary of State is required to submit a list of names to appear on each party’s primary ballot to the State Election Commission no later than December 3 of this year.
“The Secretary of State has sole discretion to include only those candidates that he has determined are generally advocated or recognized as candidates in national news media throughout the United States,” according to the website.
As for Bloomberg, he would have to gain access to the primary ballot by submitting a petition signed by at least 2,500 registered voters before noon on December 3.
Bruck said no other Democratic Party presidential candidates have thus far qualified to run in next year’s presidential primary.
“We anticipate some candidates will send letters to Secretary Hargett seeking to be placed on the ballot as a nationally recognized candidate,” Bruck said.
The Secretary of State has also issued petitions for the Presidential Preference Primary ballot to Republicans Robert Breton Phillips and Roque De Le Fuente and Democrat Tom Steyer, Bruck said.
As The Tennessee Star reported earlier this month, Bloomberg is preparing to file for a Democratic presidential primary in Alabama.
The billionaire philanthropist dispatched staffers to Alabama to gather signatures to qualify for the primary in the state, which has a Friday deadline for entry into the race. Bloomberg could pose a substantial problem for Biden, a moderate struggling to raise cash.
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
[…] As reported earlier this month, the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Division of Elections recently issued a petition to former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg so his name can appear on Tennessee’s Democratic presidential preference primary ballot on March 3. […]
Waste of ink in my opinion.
Who cares?