On September 15, the Florida Supreme Court invalidated a Florida ballot access law that sometimes keeps candidates off the ballot through no fault of theirs. Wright v City of Miami Gardens, SC16-1518. Florida depends on filing fees, rather than mandatory ballot access petitions, for all candidates except independent candidates for President. Consequently, Florida laws concerning filing fees are of the utmost importance.
Section 99.061(7)(a) says, “If a candidate’s check is returned by the bank for any reason, the filing officer shall immediately notify the candidate and the candidate shall have until the end of qualifying to pay the fee with a cashier’s check…Failure to pay the fee as provided in this subparagraph shall disqualify the candidate.”
In the 2016 election for Mayor of Miami Gardens, candidate James Barry Wright paid his filing fee. But eight days later the bank returned the check uncashed, because the bank made a mistake. The qualifying period had already ended when the bank did that, so the lower court felt the law is unambiguous and kept Wright off the ballot. The Florida Supreme Court says the law, when applied to situations when the candidate did nothing wrong, is unconstitutional. The court ordered a new election, which will be held November 8, 2016.
The court said, “Unreasonable and unnecessary restrictions on the elective process are a threat to our republican form of government. At their worst, they cloak tyranny in the garb of Democracy. See Thomas Paine, Dissertation on the First Principles of Government (1795).” The decision then quotes Paine: “THe right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case.”
The vote on whether to hold the law unconstitutional was 5-2. One dissenting justice would have construed the law to mean that Wright should have been put on the ballot. The other dissenting justice said it is improper for the Supreme Court to hold the law unconstitutional, when the plaintiff himself had not made the argument that the law is unconstitutional. The majority said the law is so clear, it cannot be construed to have allowed Wright on the ballot. Thanks to Michael Drucker for this news.
All sorts of votes have been and will be subverted due to the many ANTI-Democracy minority rule gerrymander systems in the USA — Federal, State and Local.
i.e. NONSTOP gerrymanders in Anglo-American history since the 1200s — gerrymander formation of ye olde English House of Commons.
1/2 or less votes x 1/2 rigged gerrymander districts = 1/4 or less CONTROL.
Much much much worse primary math — i.e. by the robot party special interest gangsters picking the robot party HACKS who later get elected.
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NO primaries.
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
Florida court. Wow.
Ballot access ONLY via EQUAL nominating petitions — that infamous *modicum* of support.
Who uses *modicum* other than the SCOTUS robot party hacks ???
Stephanie Anderson was running as an Independent for Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s 23rd district seat in Florida. Until she got hit with the filing fee, which she could not afford. Instead, she’s running as a write-in candidates. Which is a steep hill to climb, but there she is.