On February 8, an amicus curiae brief was filed in Kopitke v Bell, 20-897, in the U.S. Supreme Court. The case challenges the March 3 independent presidential petition deadline established by the North Carolina legislature in 2018. The amicus is filed by individuals who supported Ross Perot when he ran for president as an independent in 1992. The amicus points out that if North Carolina had had a March 3 petition deadline for independent presidential candidates in 1992, that probably would have prevented his 1992 campaign. The amicus is also on behalf of three individuals who have studied independent presidential campaigns.
In my opinion the March 3rd filing deadline is inappropriate and discriminatory and, if allowed to stand, will have the effect of making it impossible for any independent candidate to compete for the office of President. Such an early filing date would increase to a crippling, if not fatal, degree the candidacies of Presidential hopefuls already handicapped by the burden of collecting large quantities of petition signatures not required from major party candidates.