U.S. Presidents must be a natural born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and have been a resident within the United States for at least 14 years. Each President serves a 4 year term in office and is voted on Statewide. (Article 2, Section 1, US Constitution)

Individuals who wish to run for U.S. President must register with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for campaign finance reporting. For information on filing and reporting requirements, please refer to the FEC's website. If you have questions regarding filing with the FEC, you will need to contact their offices directly at either [email protected] or at (800) 424-9530.

Individuals may run as either Partisan candidates (i.e. affiliated with one of the recognized political parties in Idaho) or as Independent candidates (i.e. no affiliation with any of the recognized political parties in Idaho).

The recognized political parties in Idaho are the Constitution Party, Idaho Democratic Party, Libertarian Party of Idaho, and the Idaho Republican Party. No other political parties have met the requirements for recognition in Idaho.

Idaho gives the political parties recognized in Idaho the option of conducting a Presidential Primary Election in March 2016 or conducting a caucus in accordance to their party rules. Each political party in Idaho must notify the Secretary of State’s Office by November 24, 2015 of their plan to hold a Presidential Primary Election.

The U.S. Presidential Filing Packet has a short information sheet. The Declaration of Candidacy and the filing fee must be filed prior to December 9, 2015.

Independent Candidates must file a Declaration of Candidacy and collect the signatures of at least 1,000 registered electors of the state.

The U.S. Presidential Independent Filing Packet has the necessary forms and a short information sheet. Declarations and Petitions must be filed prior to August 25, 2016.

When collecting signatures to be filed with the Declaration of Candidacy, each signature sheet must contain the signatures of qualified electors from only one county and must be verified by the County Clerk prior to being filed with the Secretary of State.

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