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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho voters won't see the national Constitution Party nominee on the ballot when they go to the polls this November.
Instead, the Rev. Scott Copeland of Texas will be Constitution Party's nominee in Idaho.
Idaho was the only state to hold a Constitution Party primary while the other states sent delegates to the party's national convention, where Darrell Castle of Tennessee was nominated, The Spokesman-Review (http://bit.ly/2b3SdzK) reported.
Copeland won Idaho's first-ever Constitution Party presidential primary in March. Castle did not run in the Idaho primary.
Idaho law states that a presidential nominee must be certified by the party's state chairman to go on the ballot.
Betsie Kimbrough, state elections director for the Idaho Secretary of State's office, said the state accepted Copeland as the party's candidate earlier this year.
Castle did not respond to requests to his campaign for comment. He will be on at least 20 other state ballots.
"When you get into third party, you're getting into a realm of chaos," said Floyd Whitley, state party chairman for Idaho.
Castle's campaign has since contacted the Secretary of State's office to see how he can get on the Idaho ballot for the general election. Secretary of State Lawerence Denney ruled that Castle could show up as an independent candidate if turned in at least 1,000 valid signatures before Aug. 25.
"I believe he is gathering signatures - I've heard from a couple of counties," Kimbrough said.
Roughly 2,400 Idahoans are registered under the Constitution Party, according to records in the Secretary of State's office.
"Mr. Castle is the insider, or the party elite or the establishment, if you will, in the Constitution Party," said Whitley. "He apparently did not believe he needed to compete in Idaho, because it was his party, so to speak."
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