On July 15, independent candidate Bob Perls filed a lawsuit in state court, arguing that the number of signatures needed for independent candidates in New Mexico violates the state Constitution. The New Mexico Constitution says, “All elections shall be free and open, and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage.”

Perls is a candidate for Public Regulation Commission. If he doesn’t win his lawsuit, only one candidate, a Democrat, will be on the November ballot in his district. The law required him to get 3,643 signatures. Democrats in that district needed 750 signatures of registered Democrats to get on the primary ballot; Republicans needed 450; nominees of qualified parties that nominate by convention need 1,250 signatures and any registered voter may sign for them.

A similar lawsuit was filed in federal court in 2014, Parker v Duran, but a U.S. District Court refused to strike down the law. In some states, including New Mexico, the State Constitution has an explicit protection for the right to vote that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution. The case is Perls v State of New Mexico, Santa Fe County District Court. Perls was once in the state legislature. See this story.