Rocky De La Fuente, independent presidential candidate, has recently sued Oklahoma over its petition requirement for independent presidential candidates. The law requires 40,047 valid signatures by July 15. No one has completed this type of petition in Oklahoma since 1992, when Ross Perot did it. Oklahoma is one of only four states in which Ralph Nader never appeared on the ballot in any of his presidential runs.
The original De La Fuente case against Oklahoma was filed on May 31, but it sued the wrong defendant. An amended complaint, suing the correct defendant, was filed on June 14. The case is De La Fuente v Ziriax, w.d., 5:16cv-583.
Constitutional election law cases filed by minor parties or independent candidates are pending in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia.
I see the lawsuits he is filing to try to make ballot access fair, and I applaud him for such, but is he actively petitioning anywhere, and if so, how many ballots does he expect to be on?
Yes, Rocky is actively petitioning in a few states. I do not know how many ballots he will appear on, but expect to see him on at least a few.
If he wins any of these lawsuits, it will help ease ballot access for minor party and independent candidates in the future.
Good to hear he has some boots on the ground. I really thought he was setting up for a big run in 2020 as an Independent. I wish him well, and I think if he can get on enough ballots, he could drum up some pretty impressive support from independent voters, especially latino and chicano voters.
Which court was this lawsuit filed in?
federal court in Oklahoma City. The little “w.d.” in front of the case number means “western district of Oklahoma.” Whenever one sees “w.d.”, “e.d”, “n.d.”, “s.d.”, “m.d.”, that means a US District Court. They stand for western district, eastern district, northern district, southern district, or middle district. No state has more than 4 districts, and about half the states don’t have districts at all.
There’s also “C.D.” for Central District.
It appears that Rocky also just filed to run for U.S. Senate in Florida as a Democrat. And he’s already paid the fee.
Does this guy just hate money, or what?
Richard, glad to hear this! Would be wonderful if we could somehow be a part of this suit as well.
We’re in the midst of collecting signatures to get Jill Stein on the ballot. Most of the ones any good at it are burnt out from decades of attempting to get BA either through legislative means, petitioning or coalitions all to only chip away a bit. Dems in the state say they’re for it, but hard to find any to petition. Libertarians got on, with a heroic and co$tly petition drive. I commend them.
Peace and Joy in the Moment,
Joni LeViness GPOK member,former co chair OBAR
No lawsuits in Indiana yet, Richard?