Other Presidential Candidates in West Virginia
Libertarian nominee Bob Barr did not appear on the ballot.  His campaign needed to submit 15,118 valid signatures by Aug. 1, 2008 ["two percent of the entire vote cast at the last preceding general election for any presidential candidate"], but it did not submit enough by the deadline.  One problem was that the campaign started its petition efforts in West Virginia less than three weeks before the deadline "on either July 13 or 15."  On Aug. 13 Barr filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Charleston.  On Sept. 5 Judge John D. Copenhaver, Jr. ordered the suit dismissed. [ruling in Barr v. Ireland] 

e-mail from approx. July 19, 2008

Dear friend,

I urgently need your help.

I'm in Charleston, West Virginia attempting to get Bob Barr on the ballot. When I arrived early Wednesday morning, I didn't think it would be possible, but I had to give it a shot.

We're headed toward 48 state ballot access. Only West Virginia and Oklahoma are problems. However, there is hope in Oklahoma as we have just filed a lawsuit to get Bob Barr and Wayne Root on the ballot there.

If we win that case, only West Virginia will stand in our way of 50 state ballot access - an apex of achievement for a third-party candidate and something the media cannot ignore.

But here's my problem.

There is no active Libertarian Party in West Virginia and a very limited pool of volunteers.

I have had to bring in out-of-state petitioners from across the nation to get this drive done.

So far I have 13 petitioners on the ground and another nine on their way.

I didn't think we would have the manpower to get the drive done, but now I think it's a possibility. I have enough petitioners in the state and on their way to collect enough signatures by our August 1st deadline.

But I won't have the money to finish the drive if I don't raise $43,000 by close of business on Monday.

Russ Verney, our campaign manager, wrote to me this morning and instructed me to shut down the drive if I cannot raise the funds by COB Monday.

So far this month, we're raised less than $100,000. We're even off pace from our June fundraising totals.

The campaign cannot afford this ballot drive as I write this. We would have to choose between basic campaign operations or the possibility of 50 state ballot access.

Russ has to make a tough call on this drive but he did give me 96 hours to raise the funds to continue the effort.

I ask that you keep this drive alive by helping me raise $43,000 by close of business on Monday.

Please make an emergency donation to fund the West Virginia ballot access drive right now. Please give generously by clicking here.

My friend, I've only been in this state for a few days and we need to be on the ballot here.

When I arrived in West Virginia it was 2:30 in the morning. I pulled into a hotel parking lot and a restaurant owner and one of her patrons were standing outside smoking a cigarette.

They didn't look too happy.

As it turns out, just a few weeks earlier the county had banned smoking in all "enclosed workplaces" including bars and restaurants.

I'm not a smoker, but it's the property owner's decision to allow or disallow smoking on their premises - it is not a county bureaucrats' decision.

When I explained libertarian philosophy to them and told them about our candidate Bob Barr, their eyes lit up.

They did not know that there is an alternative to the two-party system. They didn't know that there is a party that respects an individual's rights and personal decisions.

Since then, I've talked to many more folks in this state and the same holds true. We need to give West Virginians a better choice and the only way to do that is to get Bob Barr on the ballot.

Please donate today and help me keep this drive alive. I have two weeks left to pull it off and I sincerely need your support.

A gift of $50, $100, $250 or more would be a significant help. If you can't give $50, give $5 or $10. Every dollar gets us one step closer to getting a pro-liberty candidate on the ballot in what could be our final ballot access hurdle.

Thank you for all that you do.

The Constitution party 21,706 signatures of which 16,070 were deemed valid.  Darrell Castle, vice presidential nominee of the Constitution Party, spoke at the CPWV 2008 State Convention in Morgantown on Aug. 23, 2008.
Cynthia McKinney appeared on the ballot as the nominee of the West Virginia Mountain Party:

PRESS RELEASE from the West Virginia Mountain Party

August 20, 2008

The Mountain Party
Rt. 1 Box 108 Ripley WV 25271 Phone: 304-372-3945
Web-site: www.mtparty.org ; E-mail: info@mtparty.org 
Mountain Party Nominates McKinney to be its Presidential Candidate
On August 1st the West Virginia Mountain Party filed its Presidential and Vice-presidential candidate nominations documents with the West Virginia Secretary of State. The party's presidential candidate is former Georgia congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney of Los Angeles, California. Community organizer, journalist and Hip-Hop activist Rosa Clemente of Charlotte, North Carolina is the Mountain Party's candidate for Vice-President.

McKinney and Clemente join Mountain Party gubernatorial candidate Jesse Johnson of Charleston to head up the Mountain Party ticket in this year's general election.

Mountain Party Secretary and West Virginia Coordinator for the McKinney for President "Power to the People" campaign said, "This is an historic presidential ticket and gives our state and nation a real alternative to the duopoly candidates. Cynthia McKinney, a black woman, and Rosa Clemente, a Hispanic woman, make up the first all women-of-color slate on a national ticket in U.S. history."

In accepting the nomination at the Green Party convention, Congresswoman McKinney said: "I'm looking forward to what we can build together. Our country has been hijacked and it will take all of us working together, going into places we've never been in order to spread the news that there is a political party that means what it says and does what it means". Rosa Clemente's words were: "The Green Party is no longer the alternative; the Green Party is the imperative".

Mountain Party nominations committee chair Frank Young said, "With these latest nominations the Mountain Party is proud to have a record number of candidates for national, state, legislative district and local offices on the general election ballot in November."

The Mountain Party is the West Virginia affiliate of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS). Eight Mountain Party delegates appeared in person to participate in the nomination of Ms. McKinney and Ms. Clemente at the GPUS national nominating convention in Chicago in mid-July.

For further information please contact Karen Grubb at 304-366-0515 or karenyg@mtparty.org