By Constitution Staff

An organization hoping to place a centrist third-party presidential ticket on the November ballot in all 50 states has secured a spot on Oklahoma's ballot. But, the Libertarian Party fell short in their attempt to regain ballot status. Based on the number of votes cast in the last general election, a minimum of 51,739 signatures from registered voters is currently required to become a recognized political party in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax announced at the end of March that Americans Elect had gathered more than 68,000 signatures. Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party was only able to collect about 41,000 signatures. The Libertarian Party is currently involved in a lawsuit challenging Oklahoma's stringent signature requirement.

Former Oklahoma Gov. and U.S. Sen. David Boren gave his support to the Americans Elect effort and spoke at the press conference following the delivery of the signatures to the state Election Board.

With the addition of Oklahoma, the Americans Elect Party has obtained a place on the ballot in 19 states. The other 18 states are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont New Mexico Montana and Wyoming.

While Americans Elect obtained recognition too late for current voters to switch their political party before the June Primary Election, new voters can register under the Americans Elect banner. The deadline for currently registered voters to change party affiliation was March 31. The party became recognized just in time for candidates to file for office. Under legislation passed last year, the filing period was moved from June to the middle of April. Candidates could register with the new party and file for office as an Americans Elect candidate. A candidate is also allowed to change their party affiliation to seek the nomination of a new party within 15 days of a party being recognized. However, no candidates filed for office under the Americans Elect Party.

Americans Elect was incorporated on April 6, 2010 by Peter Ackerman who serves as chairman and kicked off the venture with a $5,000,000 contribution. Ackerman was an Obama supporter in 2008 and attempted a similar online effort that year called Unity08. The CEO of the organization is Kahlil Byrd, a Republican who formerly served as communications director for Democrat Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Patrick's chief campaign strategist was David Axelrod who is Obama's chief polital strategist. The group's advisory board includes Lawrence Lessig, an Obama technology adviser.

According to its bylaws, Americans Elect will host a national online primary ending with a convention in June. It opened its website to begin recruiting delegates for its 2012 Presidential Primary in July 2011. The candidate drafting process began on February 1, 2012, and in the first few hours the 360,000 online delegates drafted 52 possible candidates including: Ron Paul, Hillary Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, Rahm Emanuel, Jon Huntsman, Condoleezza Rice, and Buddy Roemer. The first phase of voting in the online primary will identify the six most popular candidates who will advance to the second phase of the primary after they accept the Americans Elect nomination and select a Vice-Presidential running mate affiliated with any party other than their own. During the second phase, the six finalists will be narrowed down to two. Americans Elect will then choose its final candidate through an internet based convention in June.

Skeptics charge that the group's real mission is to divide the anti-Obama vote. While third-party presidential candidates never win, they usually tilt the outcome to the Democrat candidate. In 1992, Bill Clinton won the presidency with 43% of the vote, with Ross Perot siphoning off 20%, leaving President Bush with 38%. In the presidential election of 1912, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was victorious with 42% of the vote, while Republican President William Howard Taft finished third with 23% of the vote, behind former President Theodore Roosevelt who received 27% .

Only time will tell if this is a true effort to promote a centrist third-party candidate, or a sophisticated effort involved in mischief.