1 Institutional barriers and ballot rules

The United States’ winner-take-all electoral system is not welcoming to third parties.

Hans Noel, a professor who teaches political history and political methodology at Georgetown University, said the United States does not have “institutions that are open to multi, third parties being super successful.”

“You have to win outright in order to get anything,” Noel said. “So it’s not like in other democracies where you start a small party and you get, you know, 20 or 30 percent of the vote, and then you get some share of the seats in the legislature and you can build from that.”

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Beyond the winner-take-all system, if Musk wants to buoy federal candidates in different states or, eventually, establish a third-party presidential candidate, his new organization will have to comply with the varying requirements for getting on ballots.

States and the Federal Election Commission have rules and requirements for registering a new political party. States also have their own rules, often including residential requirements and petition signatures from voters.

Mac McCorkle, a professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, said the ballot criteria could pose a “daunting” problem.

“To get on the ballot, there’s going to be a lot of petition signature requirements,” said McCorkle, who previously worked as a Democratic consultant. “On the other hand, he probably has enough money to be able to do that.

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