Florida State Trial Court Disqualifies Democratic U.S. House Candidate Over Duration of Membership in Party

On August 5, a Florida state trial court disqualified Rebekah Jones from the Democratic primary, for U.S. House, First District. The basis is that she was briefly a registered independent (from June 2021 to August 2021) in Maryland. Jones’ name is on the primary ballot, but the judge ordered election officials not to count her primary votes. See this story.

Jones did not raise the constitutional issue. In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot bar parties from nominating non-members. Instead Jones disputed the evidence that she was briefly registered as an independent. The Florida law says no one can run in a primary who has not been a member of that party for one year before qualifying, and the qualifying date in 2022 was in June.

However, the constitutional issue can only be raised by a political party. For Jones to raise the constitutional issue, and win, the Democratic Party of Florida would need to be a plaintiff.


Comments

Florida State Trial Court Disqualifies Democratic U.S. House Candidate Over Duration of Membership in Party — 4 Comments

  1. ^Likely her placement on the ballot was challenged by a private citizen and the law was upheld.

    The whole “ordering election boards not to count her votes…wow, that’s a terrible order.

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