On May 10, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed HB 1615. It moves the primary (for office other than President) from July to June, and it moves the petition deadline for a new party from May 1 to March 1.
On May 10, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed HB 1615. It moves the primary (for office other than President) from July to June, and it moves the petition deadline for a new party from May 1 to March 1.
How many days will Americans Elect have to get a petition together? I.e. when can they start petitioning?
p.s. those gutless bastards north of Texas.
The Oklahoma petition deadline will not withstand a court challenge. The US Supreme Court itself in 1968 ruled in Williams v Rhodes that Ohio’s February petition deadline for a new party was too early. In Jenness v Fortson, the US Supreme Court said the Ohio February deadline was “unreasonably early.” Then in 1977, the US Supreme Court said in Mandel v Bradley that when a state has a March deadline combined with a high number of signatures and the record shows that few petitions succeed, that is an unconstitutional law. Then in 1983 the US Supreme Court said in Anderson v Celebrezze that even when the number of signatures is low (Ohio’s 5,000 was only one-tenth of 1% of the number of voters), petition deadlines as early as March 20 are too early. Early deadlines are the one area of ballot access law in which all the US Supreme Court precedents are helpful to candidates and minor parties.
In Jenness v Fortson, the Supreme Court made a number of contrasts between the ballot access procedure used in Ohio and those used in Georgia (ie “vastly different”), and it was the cumulative effect of the Ohio procedures that led the Supreme Court to rule in the manner that they did in Williams v Rhodes.
Doesn’t Mandel v Bradley say that the District Court should have done an independent analysis, and not relied on the Supreme Court’s summary affirmance in another case as establishing a precedence? You seem to be quoting the Stevens dissent.
#4, my point about Jenness v Fortson is that in Jenness v Fortson, the US Supreme Court said Ohio’s February petition deadline was “unreasonably early.” See page 438 of Jenness: “Unlike Ohio, Georgia does not fix an unreasonably early filing deadline for candidates not endorsed by established parties.” A law that has been termed “unreasonable” by the U.S. Supreme Court cannot even pass rational basis review.
If Ohio had had a later petition deadline, the American Independent Party would have qualified for the Ohio 1968 ballot without the need for a lawsuit. The February deadline was the only reason that Wallace had to sue. Ohio had made it plain that there were no other impediments to the party’s ballot status. Ohio did not require a new party to fill all those party positions and said so plainly in its brief and at oral argument. Justice Douglas’ concurrence was misleading.
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