On January 23, the Missouri House Urban Education Reform Committee passed HB 1310. On January 30, the Missouri House Rules Committee also passed it. It requires independent candidates, for all office, to file a declaration of candidacy in March of election years.
Since the bill does not exempt presidential independents, it is unconstitutional under both Anderson v Celebrezze, 460 US 780, and McCarthy v Kirkpatrick, 420 F Supp 366 (a 1976 Missouri federal court decision). If you live in Missouri, please contact your legislators (especially your State Senator) and oppose this bill.
No, no, no Richard, ya don’t understand.
This is one [of many] of the reasons
I left ‘Misery’ as soon as the ink was
dry on my educational paper work!
In 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006
it was not so much the Red States
as thw “Red Neck States’!
If passed, this would hurt Ron Paul if he chooses to run as an independent (which I don’t think he’ll do – he’ll probably either stay in until the brokered GOP convention or run for the Libertarian Party nomination), since he would have to declare by March to be on the ballot in Missouri.
The Missouri bill wouldn’t take effect this year. Also it only affects independent candidates. If Ron Paul runs in the general election as something other than a Republican, I would guess he would be the nominee of a third party.
It’s application to presidential candidates is at best ambigious. Missouri does not have primary elections for the purpose of nominating presidential (elector) candidates so “all independent candidates shall file a declaration of candidacy for each primary election by the same deadline established for other candidates in subsection 1 of section 115.349” would have to be interpreted as meaning that independent candidates for president have to file their declaration of candidacy by the same date as party candidates for dogcatcher or other offices contested at the primary. The more straightforward interpetation is that it establishes a deadline for independent candidates which is the same as that for party nomination candidates for the same office. And 115.349 itself has an exception for the presidential primaries.
And what exactly is a “declaration of candidacy for each primary election”?
115.127 appears to apply only when no deadline is specified, yet the existing (retained part) 115.329 sets a deadline, and then makes an exception for 115.127.