On Sunday, September 13, the New Mexico Forward Party filed this reply brief in New Mexico Forward Party v Tpulouse Oliver, 26-2145. The issue is the New Mexico election law that requires a new party to file a petition to become qualified, but then (after the party nominates by convention) the law also requires each nominee of the new party to file his or her own separate petition.

The Forward Party complied with the first petition, but for its two statewide nominees, it was unable to collect the needed 14,246 that each needed on separate petitions. The party seeks injunctive relief to put its two statewide nominees on the ballot. If no injunction is received, New Mexico will be one of eight states this year in which all the statewide offices have only the Democratic and Republican nominees on the ballot. The other states are Alabama, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, and Virginia (two states, Utah and Washington, have no statewide offices up this year).