On December 13, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Friot, a Bush Jr. appointee, upheld Oklahoma’s petition for independent presidential candidates, and the presidential nominees of unqualified parties. De La Fuente v Ziriax, 16cv-914. The law requires 3% of the past presidential vote. On a percentage basis, it is the most severe law in the nation for independent presidential candidates.
The decision is eight pages. Oklahoma does not require any petition for independent candidates, except presidential independents, and plaintiffs pressed this point. But the decision says that the state has an interest in making ballot access more difficult for presidential independents than for independents for other office.
The decision says, “The presidential office is the most important office in the nation, and it is the only office which is elected by state electors, facts which justify more rigorous ballot access rules for election to this office as compared to the office of Senator. See Nixon v Fitgerald (president occupies a unique position in the constitutional scheme).”
The decision does not mention Anderson v Celebrezze, which said that states must go easier on presidential ballot access than ballot access for other office. Nor does it mention any of the decision that say states can’t make independent petitions more difficult than petitions for new parties.
The plaintiffs were Rocky De La Fuente and Jill Stein.
Time for a petition to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in OK? Cap the amount of signatures by amendment. Oklahoma has a direct amendment initiative process.
I have mixed feelings about this. I don’t like restrictive ballot access laws any more than anyone else, but I think this decision would help the Libertarian Party, the party I support, in Oklahoma. They somehow managed to get ballot qualified in Oklahoma. The restrictive ballot access laws in that state means that they are the only third party game in town, so to speak, which, if properly managed on their part, could help them become a bigger force in that state, as compared to what might have prevailed if other third parties had easier access to the ballot. Oklahoma gave Gary Johnson just short of 6% of its votes, his fourth best showing nationwide, so this illustrates there is some real appetite in that state for an alternative to the two old parties.
One more HACK opinion by an APPOINTED robot party HACK.
Each election is NEW.
Separate is NOT equal.
EQUAL nominating petitions.
When was the last Fed HACK judge impeached by the HACKS in the gerrymander Congress ???
Hoping and encouraging appeal.