South Dakota Secretary of State Says Independent Candidates are Not Permitted for Lesser State Executive Spots

On June 30, the South Dakota Secretary of State ruled that independent candidates are not permitted to run for statewide executive positions other than Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The basis for the ruling is statutory interpretation. The officials who made the ruling don’t seem to be aware that in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Storer v Brown, 415 US 724, at page 745, that states must permit independent candidates to run for any partisan office.

The matter arose in South Dakota when Joy Howe told the Secretary of State that she wishes to run as an independent candidate for Secretary of State, and asked for information about the procedures.


Comments

South Dakota Secretary of State Says Independent Candidates are Not Permitted for Lesser State Executive Spots — 2 Comments

  1. The robot party hack MORONS have about ZERO respect for the *rights* of minor party and independent candidates.

    SUE for $$$ DAMAGES – bankrupt the MORONS.

    Where is that MEGASITE having ALL election law cases – about what the MORONS can and can NOT do ???

    i.e. the smaller State regimes do NOT have the staff to keep up to date with the zillion court cases.

  2. Yay! Time for another good ole fashioned ballot access lawsuit. This one will likely win pretty handily too.

    I can’t see any possible justification for such a restriction holding water in any court.

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