Only two independent candidates appear on the Minnesota November 2010 ballot for State House of Representatives. It is has been discovered that one of them, Al Hein, running in the 31B district, was accidentally put on the ballot even though he did not file any petition. See this story. The 31B district is in southeastern Minnesota. UPDATE: see this story about the problem, published on September 21.
Very few candidates qualify as independent candidates for the Minnesota legislature, because the 500 petition requirement is rather steep. The requirement amounts to approximately 2.5% of the last vote cast, and all signatures must be gathered within two weeks. When Hein came in to file, his county election administrators did not know he needed a petition. Candidates running in party primaries in Minnesota need no petition. So, he was put on the ballot with just a filing fee and a declaration of candidacy, and now the ballots have already been printed.
The 31B district was one of the closest legislative races in Minnesota in 2008. The Republican nominee polled 51.05% and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee polled 48.95%.
Minnesota does not have registration by party. However, Hein was the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party nominee for that same legislative seat in 2000 and 2002, and he ran in the DFL primary for that same seat, without winning the nomination, in 1998.
I hope they don’t kick him off the ballot. He paid the filing fee and turned in his other qualifying papers, and as for as I’m concerned, this is ALL any Independent or 3rd party candidate needs to do.
Richard, based on your expertise, if someone challenges his right in Court to be on the ballot, would this not be a good case to argue filing fees are sufficient to obtain ballot access and petitions on signatures only add an unneccessary if not unconstitutional burden?
What say ye?
The U.S. Supreme Court has already foreclosed that argument, with its 1971 decision Jenness v Fortson. In that case, Democrats and Republicans got on the primary ballot of their own parties by paying a filing fee. They didn’t need any petition. Everybody else needed to pay the filing fee and also submit a petition signed by 5% of the number of registered voters. The Court unanimously thought that was constitutional.
Thanks Richard. How sad, how sad. And as long as the Democratic and Republican Presidents are allowed to appoint the members of these federal courts, we will continue to get these types of rulings.
If anyone honestly believes a federal court member does NOT allow his or her previous party affiliation to influence their decisions, I’ve got some cheap land in south Lousiana I want to sell you.
Contact me about this sale via Ballot Access News.