# Is there a deadline for Trump to declare himself an independent candidate?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [December 9, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941 "2015-12-09T14:46:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/1 "2015-12-09T14:46:09Z")
I understand that there are “sore loser” laws in some states: if a candidate doesn’t win a primary in a state, he can’t put his name on the ballot.
So does that mean that there’s a rolling deadline for Trump to go independent, depending on the staggered primaries?
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/2 "2015-12-09T15:02:09Z")
That depends on what his goal is. If he wants to actually win the Presidency, then it’s already too late: There are enough key states whose deadlines have already passed that there’s no realistic way to win without them. On the other hand, if his goal is just to punish the Republicans for not choosing him, then he can do that regardless of sore loser laws, since there are enough key states without those laws to leave the Republicans with no realistic chance.
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### Author:  [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/3 "2015-12-09T15:58:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> That depends on what his goal is. If he wants to actually win the Presidency, then it’s already too late: There are enough key states whose deadlines have already passed that there’s no realistic way to win without them.
No, there aren’t. I believe you are confusing primary filing deadlines (the one in Illinois just passed) with general election filing deadlines. John Anderson withdrew from the Republican primaries and announced an independent candidacy on April 24, 1980, and still succeeded in getting on the ballot in all 50 states.
He had to sue a handful of states which attempted to enforce an earlier general election filing deadline, and he won in every case; see [Anderson v. Celebrezze](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/460/780/case.html).
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/4 "2015-12-09T18:40:23Z")
If he withdraws from a primary before the vote is held, does a sore loser law still apply?
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### Author:  [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/5 "2015-12-09T19:15:18Z")
I’m not expert on the laws of all 50 states, but I don’t believe “sore loser” laws apply to the presidency in any of them. John Anderson, again, was on the ballot in just about every state that had a Republican primary in 1980, and managed to get on the general election ballot in all of them.
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### Author:  [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/6 "2015-12-09T20:22:01Z")
After further research . . . it appears that “sore loser” laws **DO** apply to presidential candidates in at least _some_ states. Michigan applied a sore loser law to keep Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, a Republican convert, off of the ballot in 2012. Johnson had announced as a Libertarian in December 2011, but failed (apparently because of carelessness) to withdraw from the Michigan Republican primary until after the deadline in February 2012. The denial of access was upheld by a federal circuit court and apparently not appealed to the Supreme Court.
Sources disagree on the number of states with presidential “sore loser” laws, probably because the law in all states isn’t entirely clear.
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### Author:  [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2015, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/7 "2015-12-10T12:30:52Z")
I honestly don’t think it matters. Even if he doesn’t get the nomination and he doesn’t get on the ballot, I think he could be a significant write-in candidate. Hell, many of his supporters seem to love him so much that even if he announces he’s dropping out completely, I would not be surprised if he still got significant votes as a write-in. Now, in either case, when I say “significant” I don’t mean that he has a chance at winning; I simply mean he may very well have the potential to affect the outcome.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/8 "2015-12-10T12:43:34Z")
> [@Cabbage](#):
>
> I honestly don’t think it matters. Even if he doesn’t get the nomination and he doesn’t get on the ballot, I think he could be a significant write-in candidate. Hell, many of his supporters seem to love him so much that even if he announces he’s dropping out completely, I would not be surprised if he still got significant votes as a write-in. Now, in either case, when I say “significant” I don’t mean that he has a chance at winning; I simply mean he may very well have the potential to affect the outcome.
Even there, he’s still got some hoops to jump through. In Colorado, for instance, in order for write-in votes to be counted, the candidate has to file an Affidavit of Intent with the Secretary of State. Otherwise, all write-ins are just lumped together.
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### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2015, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/9 "2015-12-10T13:34:51Z")
[Yesterday’s news](http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/09/politics/donald-trump-republican-party-warning/):
> [@](#):
>
> Donald Trump’s tweet on Tuesday dangling the idea of an independent run for president sent a clear warning to the Republican establishment: Attack at your own peril.
>
> After 24 hours of withering criticism from the likes of Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and virtually every fellow GOP presidential hopeful – not to mention Democrats and the mayors of Philadelphia and London – Trump is defiantly standing by his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. And he upped the ante by tweeting a new USA Today/Suffolk University poll that shows 68% of the 2016 Republican front-runner’s supporters would ditch the GOP and stick with him if he launched an independent campaign for the presidency.
Run, Donald, run!
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### Author:  [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/10 "2015-12-10T17:05:30Z")
> [@Frank](#):
>
> Even there, he’s still got some hoops to jump through. In Colorado, for instance, in order for write-in votes to be counted, the candidate has to file an Affidavit of Intent with the Secretary of State. Otherwise, all write-ins are just lumped together.
Even if the votes don’t count for Trump, though, their loss in the Republican column would possibly be enough to tip some states.
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/11 "2015-12-10T17:22:28Z")
> [@Frank](#):
>
> Even there, he’s still got some hoops to jump through. In Colorado, for instance, in order for write-in votes to be counted, the candidate has to file an Affidavit of Intent with the Secretary of State. Otherwise, all write-ins are just lumped together.
If he drops and runs ignoring that, it will be a fitting fate for a Mickey Mouse candidate.
> **[If You Give a Mouse a Vote](https://prospect.org/power/give-mouse-vote/)**
>
> This year's elections were all a bit anti-climatic. Let's look at some of the craziest write-in candidates instead.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2015, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-deadline-for-trump-to-declare-himself-an-independent-candidate/739941/12 "2015-12-14T06:35:39Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> If he withdraws from a primary before the vote is held, does a sore loser law still apply?
In many states, you have only a very short time to withdraw from the election, once you file for it. Like 7-10 days from the closing of filing, even though the vote can be months away.