On February 24, two ballot-qualified parties in Florida filed a federal lawsuit against the 2011 law that says qualified parties can’t be on the November ballot for president unless they either are recognized by the Federal Election Commission as “national committees”, or unless they submit a petition of 1% of the registered voters by mid-July of an election year. In 2020 the number of signatures would be 132,781.

The two plaintiff political parties are the Independent Party of Florida, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

The law was passed in 2011, but in late 2011, the Secretary of State said he would not enforce the new law, because he had no official knowledge of which parties are recognized by the FEC as national committees. Therefore, the law had no impact on the 2012 election. But, in early September 2016, the Secretary of State reversed himself and said he would enforce it, and that decision came so late in the election season, it wasn’t possible for any of the affected parties to sue. Here is the Complaint. The Independent Party of Florida v Lee, n.d., 4:20cv-110. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Walker, an Obama appointee.