Michigan ranks No. 2 in independent, minor party candidates

Ballot Access News, which provides a wealth of information about state election laws that favor the two major parties, recently reported that Michigan ranks No. 2 in the number of independent and minor party candidates on the ballot from 2001-2014. 
With a combined 720 candidates for state and federal offices, Michigan was second only to the 824 candidates in Texas, which (of course) is a much larger state with many more elective posts.
San Francisco-based Ballot Access News created the comparison chart by tracking candidates for president, governor, Congress, partisan statewide offices and the legislature. 
Michigan's total was higher than larger states such as California, Florida, New York and New Jersey. Most states experienced less than 300 independent and minor party candidates over that 13-year period.
Among the lowest numbers were those in North Dakota and New Mexico -- 34 each. 

Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News, explains that those two states have rules that make running for office difficult for all but Democrats and Republicans.
In New Mexico, independent candidates must gather petition signatures equal to 3 percent of the state's registered voters in order to gain a spot on the statewide ballot. If such a standard existed in Michigan, a candidate would face the nearly impossible task of collecting more than 223,000 signatures.
In North Dakota, minor party candidates appear on the primary election ballot. Under the state's ballot access restrictions, candidates for the legislature can't run in November unless they receive approximately 10 to 15 percent of the total primary votes cast.