On December 8, Nancy Argenziano, a former Republican Florida state legislator, filed a lawsuit in state court, seeking to overturn the 2011 law that says no one may run in a partisan primary if that person were a registered member of another qualified party at any time in the last year before filing. The case is Argenziano v Browning, Leon County Circuit Court, 2011-ca-3484.

Argenziano wants to run for U.S. House in 2012 as a Democrat. She had registered out of the Republican Party months ago, but unfortunately for her, instead of registering as an independent (which would not have barred her from running in the Democratic primary next year), she accidentally registered as a member of the Independent Party, which has been a ballot-qualified party in Florida for over ten years.

Florida is in the process of decertifying certain qualified minor parties that have not complied with new requirements for party qualification, but the Independent Party has re-qualified and continues to be ballot-qualified.

Argenziano’s lawsuit would be far stronger if the Democratic Party of Florida would join her as a co-plaintiff. So far, however, Argenziano is the only plaintiff. In 1986 the U.S. Supreme Court said that if a party wants to nominate a non-member, the U.S. Constitution protects its right to do that. The U.S. Supreme Court has found stronger legal protection for political parties than it has for candidates.