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Changes during the Seventies
In 1971 the number of signatures required from each of the two congressional districts was boosted from 50 to 500, and payment of a $500 fee became a further requirement for presidential candidate "filings."
Voter participation grew. More and more delegates filed to be included on the ballot, representing their candidates. Three hundred ninety-one delegates and alternate delegates filed in 1976. The ballot was so full of names, it was difficult for voters to make their choices.
In its wisdom, the 1977 Legislature decided to stop this method of delegate filing. Party delegates would no longer be listed on the ballot. Instead, the new law provided that any presidential candidate who received 10% of the total vote cast by his party would be allotted his choice of a proportional number of the total delegates assigned to his party.
The new system still followed today requires each presidential candidate to submit, prior to election day, a list of those persons he wishes to represent him as his delegation to the party convention. Those individuals, in turn, are required to submit to the Secretary of State in Concord a certificate identifying their residence and proving their qualifications as registered members of the same party as the candidate. They must pledge to support that candidate at the National Convention for as long as that candidate remains before it.
Following the election, the Secretary of State determines the number of delegates won by each candidate and notifies the candidate, who must then select from the previously-submitted longer list those who will be his confirmed delegates and alternate delegates at the Convention.
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