There is one thing both of the political parties in our country can agree on. I knew it when I was a political science student at Quincy College in the ’80s, I knew it when I worked in D.C. for a Congressman, and I have known it ever since.

I knew it two years ago when I made the decision to give my time, talent, and treasure to the Forward Party. I knew it, but I decided it was still worth fighting for what I believe we all deserve: a better political system that truly represents the people.

The one thing both Democrats and Republicans can agree on is they don’t want any more parties. They don’t want more seats at the table. There are many other parties in America like the Libertarians, the Green Party, etc. But until now, there really haven’t been any “third parties” that were trying to represent the majority of us. They have simply represented certain niches or subgroups of the Democrats and Republicans. A duopoly doesn’t work if there are more than two viable options. At the end of the day, the system the two parties have built has been working quite well for them. Sure, you win some and you lose some, but you ALWAYS win some.

I have also known for a long time that it will be very hard to change any of this without true electoral reform. The Forward Party advocates for term limits, campaign finance reform, open primaries, instant run-off elections, and ending gerrymandering. These are also issues both of the major parties can agree on. They don’t want any of them. Sure, gerrymandering sucks when you are a Democrat in North Carolina, but it’s pretty sweet when you are in New York or California. Changing the way we elect people, and the choices we are given on who to elect, would be a direct threat to the duopoly.

In the State of North Carolina, it is VERY difficult to form a new political party compared to the other 49 states. We need to secure about 15,000 signatures, which doesn’t sound that bad—until you actually get involved in the work of organizing volunteers (that’s after you can actually find some) and meeting the requirements of the Board of Elections (BOE). For example, all signatures we submit must be pen to paper. That’s right, no digital signatures allowed. We can’t ask people to go to a website or scan a barcode with their phone—we have to walk up to strangers with a clipboard in our hand and ask them if they will take a pen and fill out our petition.

There is also the fact that each signature has to be submitted to the BOE of the county that particular voter is registered in. Again, on the surface it seems to make sense, but in reality, it simply creates more administrative work for our all-volunteer organization and allows for more inadvertent and unintentional mistakes—such as a person signing the wrong sheet or forgetting their voter ID is still registered at an address they moved from, etc.

For most of modern history, the two major parties have not had to worry about any third-party threats. Yeah, Ross Perot—but even with millions of votes, the Electoral College is set up to make sure he would never have a chance. But in 2024, things were different. No Labels, if they could have found the right candidate, were poised to really take a shot. They went on record: if it comes down to Biden vs. Trump, we deserve a third choice. They never actually got there, but then along came RFK. He rolled into the Trump machine, so was not a real threat come Election Day, but you see the trend. At least when it comes to POTUS, people are starting to realize just how terrible this system is and how lacking the choices are that we are given. We need a better way.

So back to the one thing both Democrats and Republicans don’t want: a viable third choice for voters. That is why they are now making it even harder for the Forward Party—or any other group trying to form a party—to get our candidates on the ballots. The NC BOE is proposing adding more administrative work to our signature-gathering efforts. When a voter signs our petition, the BOE wants us to have another voter with them sign alongside their name to prove they witnessed the signature. Furthermore, they want every person who ever signs as a witness on any of our sheets across the state to be registered with the BOE as an official “Collector.”

And it’s not just in NC. Our Forward friends in Maryland are watching a bill the Governor is likely to sign this week, which will make it easier for the two parties to keep Forward off the ballot. As more and more of us finally commit to the fact that we need to make some real change in our politics—and that we deserve more than the two choices we are given in every election—the more afraid the two major parties are going to be of losing all the money, control, and power they have been sitting on for generations.

If you haven’t already, please sign our pledge. We need your help now more than ever. And if you want to let the BOE know your thoughts on their proposed changes, please contact them:

Members of the public may comment on the rules in any of the following ways from March 17, 2025, through May 16, 2025.

Online: Public Comment Portal: Petition Rules
Email: [email protected]
Mail: Attn: Rulemaking Coordinator, P.O. Box 27255, Raleigh, NC 27611-7255
Public Hearing: An in-person public hearing on the proposed rules will be held at 10 a.m. April 14, 2025, in the State Board of Elections Office, Third Floor, Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603.