Law Professor Rick Hasen writes here at his Election Law Blog that Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Supreme Court, wrote an opinion in 2012 that suggests he is not favorable to ballot access or to minor parties. The case was Hassan v State of Colorado and Secretary of State Scott Gessler, 12-1190 (September 4, 2012).

Abdul Hassan was born in Guyana, but he wanted to run for President in 2012. He admitted he is not a natural born citizen (he is naturalized) but he filed six federal lawsuits against the federal government or against state election officials, saying the “natural born” clause has been implicitly repealed by new U.S. Constitutional amendments. He said he was seeking the Democratic nomination, but in two states without presidential primaries, Colorado and Iowa, he also sued to be allowed to be an independent candidate.

Judge Gorsuch ruled against him, writing the Constitution permits states to bar candidates from the ballot if it is uncontested that they do not meet the constitutional qualifications for the office. In the same opinion, Gorsuch also ruled that the natural born clause is still a valid part of the Constitution.

Gorsuch’s statement that states are permitted to bar candidates from the ballot if it is clear to everyone that they do not meet the constitutional qualifications is entirely unremarkable. No federal or state court has ever ruled any differently. Although some states have sometimes printed the names of constitutionally ineligible candidates on ballots, no court has ever forced any state to do that.

Abdul Hassan failed to persuade a single judge to rule in his favor. He was in front of six U.S. District Court judges, and these eighteen U.S. Court of Appeals Judges: D.C. Circuit Karen Henderson, Thomas Griffht, Brett Kavanaugh; First Circuit Sandra Lynch, Kermit Lipez, O. Rogeriee Thompson; Second Circuit Jon O. Newman, Joseph McLaughlin, Debra Ann Livingston; Eighth Circuit Diana E. Murphy, Morris S. Arnold, Lavenski Smith; Ninth Circuit Edward Leavy, Sidney Thomas, Mary H. Murguia; and Tenth Circuit Gorsuch, Wade Brorby, and Jerome Holmes. Some of those judges didn’t even think Hassan had standing.

Hassan appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court also, but that court refused to hear his appeal. Hassan v Colorado, 12-1187.