Brad Smith of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, has been diligently seeking to qualify as an independent candidate for the U.S. House since September 2009. He wants to be on the November 2010 ballot in the 5th district. The law requires him to submit 18,123 valid signatures by June 10. He has submitted 10,000 signatures so far, of which approximately 7,500 have been validated.
No one has ever qualified as an independent candidate for U.S. House in North Carolina in the entire history of government-printed ballots, which have existed in that state since 1901. On June 4, Smith filed to intervene in Greene v Bartlett, the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in 2008 to overturn the North Carolina ballot access law for independent candidates for U.S. House. The case is awaiting a decision.
Smith’s intervention will strengthen the lawsuit.
We are truly glad to have Mr. Smith join us in our fight to break down NC’s restrictive laws against independent candidates. With Mr. Smith’s intervention, I believe our lawsuit will stand a better chance in success for the people of NC.