On July 10, the 3rd Circuit heard Rogers v Cortes, 06-2241. This is the Pennsylvania ballot access case. Pennsylvania has 5 qualified parties (Republican, Democratic, Green, Libertarian and Constitution), but treats the parties that have fewer than 1,212,000 registered voters as though they weren’t qualified, for ballot access purposes. This means the latter three parties must submit 67,000 signatures this year to have their statewide nominees on the ballot, even though they all polled enough votes in 2004 to meet the “party” definition.

The panel was composed of Judges Jane Roth, D. Brooks Smith, and Ruggero Aldisert. Judge Roth already has a very good record on ballot access. Judge Smith, who has never had a ballot access case, seemed to believe that since the parties met the vote test in 2004, they shouldn’t be required to submit petitions in 2006. However, Judge Aldisert seemed to think it wasn’t important that the parties had met the vote test in 2004.

The Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition held a rally across the street from the courthouse, before the hearing, and has already received TV coverage in Philadelphia.