15 Presidential Candidates Put on Ballot : Election: President Clinton and eight Republicans are among those listed for March 26 California primary. Official says names can be added up to Jan. 27.

Secretary of State Bill Jones announced Monday the selection of 15 presidential candidates to appear on California’s March 26 primary election ballot, including Democrat Bill Clinton and eight Republicans. So far, there is no prospective nominee from Ross Perot’s new Reform Party.

Jones, a Republican, noted that he can add names to the list between now and Jan. 27, when the lineup for the presidential ballot becomes final.

State law requires the secretary of state, California’s chief elections officer, to give a ballot slot to any major party candidate who is “generally recognized”--either in California or nationally--as a candidate for party nominations.

Jones added: “I remain open to the prospect of placing additional names on California’s primary election ballot should other candidates meet the qualifications after today.”

Also, any of those listed who wish to remove themselves from consideration can do so by filing a sworn affidavit that they are not a candidate. The deadline for doing that is Jan. 22.

Only one of two new parties that qualified for the ballot this fall is fielding a primary candidate, John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party. Should there be no other opposition, Hagelin would win California’s delegates to the Natural Law nominating convention without contest.

Perot, the Texas business mogul who ran for President as an independent candidate in 1992, qualified his Reform Party in California in a crash organizing and petition campaign this fall. However, Perot already had announced that the new party will not select its nominee through the primary election process. Rather, the candidate will be chosen at a national town hall-style nominating convention this summer or fall, he said.

So far, Perot has not indicated whom he might favor as a potential candidate to lead the new party, to be known nationally as the Independence Party.

Perot could not use the name Independence Party in California because it is too similar to the established American Independent Party.

No AIP candidates were listed by Jones, nor were any from the Peace and Freedom Party or Green Party. Prospective candidates not given a ballot position by Jones can make the ballot by petition campaign.

President Clinton has token opposition for California’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this summer from perennial candidate Lyndon LaRouche.

The eight challengers for California’s delegates to the Republican National Convention in San Diego are Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, Rep. Robert K. Dornan of Garden Grove, commentator Pat Buchanan, businessman Malcolm S. (Steve) Forbes Jr., Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Alan Keyes, a former diplomat and radio talk show host.

Jones listed four candidates from the Libertarian Party: Harry Browne, Douglass J. Ohmen, Irwin Schiff and Rick Tompkins.

This is the first time that California’s primary election has been held this early in a presidential election year. Before, the California primary was the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June.