On July 25, the Sixth Circuit heard arguments in Green Party of Tennessee v Hargett, 12-5271. Most of the discussion was over the part of the U.S. District Court decision that said all parties must have an equal chance to obtain the best spot on the ballot, and the part of the U.S. District Court decision that struck down the number of signatures required for party status. In 2012, that number is 40,042 signatures.
The three judges hearing the case are Ronald Danny Boggs (a Reagan appointee), Bernice Donald (an Obama appointee), and Ronald Gilman (a Clinton appointee).
Richard – has anyone ever pursued a First Amendment content-based challenge for ballot access?
The problem is the 1992 US Supreme Court decisions that upheld Hawaii’s ban on write-ins. The US Supreme Court majority (6-3) said voting isn’t speech. The Court is utterly wrong about that. Voting is the speech of the voter, telling the nation what he or she thinks.
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