On May 29, U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith, a Bush Jr. appointee, ruled that Rhode Island may not prevent a group from starting to circulate its petition for qualified party status in an odd year. Rhode Island provides that a group that wants to become a qualified party in advance of any particular election must submit a petition signed by 5% of the last vote cast. Furthermore, Rhode Island law makes it illegal to start circulating such a petition until January 1 of an even year.
The case is Block v Mollis, 09-47. The 27-page decision upholds the number of signatures. The case had been filed by the Moderate Party, which only exists in Rhode Island. See this Providence Journal news story about the decision.
This decision is the first constitutional ballot access victory in calendar year 2009 so far, and only the second decision to strike down a “start date” for petitions to create a ballot-qualified party. The first such decision had been won in U.S. District Court in Arkansas in 2001.
Many, many thanks to Richard and Ballot Access News for the national data and legal perspective that he provided for this suit.
Every election is N-E-W and has ZERO to do with any prior election === EQUAL ballot access tests for ALL candidates for the same office in the same area.
Way too difficult for armies of MORON lawyers and even worse MORON judges to understand — especially the super party hack Supremes.