RICHMOND, Va While Virginia voters have become more aware of the Libertarian Party with last years surprising results for gubernatorial candidate Robert Sarvis, third-party candidates still encounter challenges in the elections this fall. For many, it starts with just getting on the ballot.

While Democratic and Republican candidates are automatically listed, third-party candidates must collect 1,000 signatures of registered Virginia voters in their district to earn a spot on the ballot.

Justin Upshaw, a Libertarian who wanted to be a candidate in Virginias 3rd congressional district, gathered more than the 1,000 signatures required, but more than half were counted as invalid when they were evaluated.

Admittedly, its an adversarial system, Upshaw, a former logistics specialist in the U.S. Army, said. With my case, we turned in 1,560 signatures and only 680 were approved.

The Virginia State Board of Elections reviews the signatures and compares them to voter registrations to verify their authenticity.

Upshaw got involved when a friend tagged him in a Facebook post by Sarvis, who was looking for candidates to run in the congressional races across Virginia to continue the momentum of the Libertarian Party after last years gubernatorial election. Upshaws friend encouraged him to enter the race. But even before running, Upshaw was thinking about the financial costs of campaigning.

I went on Sarvis Facebook page and I made mention of, you know, if I was a little bit better connected, had a little bit more funding, then this is something Id be interested in.

Fundraising and financial support is a major barrier to third-party candidates. James Carr, the Libertarian candidate in the 7th congressional district, primarily uses social media and local events as free platforms to spread his message of changing the partisan gridlock.

We couldnt just spend tens of thousands of dollars, so we set a very, very tight budget, hundreds not thousands [of dollars], Carr, who is running against Republican Dave Brat and Democrat Jack Trammell, said. If you havent raised $50,000, theyre not going to let you come in and debate the other opponents that are on a specific ticket.

I dont have financial support in the role that most candidates would define it, but I have moral support. James CarrCarrs campaign has relied on small-dollar donations from many supporters in the district. He reached the $5,000 threshold required to report donations to the Federal Elections Commission in late September.

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Third-party candidates struggle to overcome variety of political hurdles