Evan McMullin, independent presidential candidate, is quoted in this news story as saying corruption is to blame for last week’s decision by the Secretary of State to keep him off the ballot. McMullin has been treated unfairly in several states, but only now he is speaking out about unfair ballot access laws.

Unfortunately, the press in Florida doesn’t seem to report that the same Florida Secretary of State, Kenneth Detzner, ruled on September 1, 2011, that the requirement that qualified parties must be recognized by the FEC as “national committees” cannot be enforced. Detzner changed his mind last week, on the very eve of ballot-printing deadlines, leaving the affected parties almost no time to find an attorney and file a lawsuit.

Courts, and election officials, over the past few decades have generally found that it violates due process for states to impose new ballot access barriers right in the middle of the season in which groups and candidates are trying to get on the ballot. This 6-page declaration written by me lists these good precedents. This blog is being posted to be of assistance to any attorneys or others who are fighting attempts by various states to impose new ballot access barriers shortly before qualifying deadlines.

On Wednesday, September 14, the Second Circuit reversed a U.S. District Court and said New York is not required to hold a new Republican primary for U.S. House in the 3rd district. Pidot v New York State Board of Elections, 16-3028. The decision was delivered from the bench, and there is still no written opinion filed.

The three judges on the Second Circuit are Dennis Jacobs (a Bush Sr. appointee), Barrington D. Parker (a Bush Jr. appointee), and Debra A. Livingston (Bush Jr.). The U.S. District Court had ordered the new primary because one of the two Republicans who submitted enough valid signatures to be on the primary ballot was omitted from the ballot. The omission was because the state believed one of the candidates, Philip Pidot, did not have enough valid signatres. When Pidot proved he did have enough valid signatures, the State Board of Elections and the state courts said this discovery came too late to do anything about it.

The Second Circuit ruled orally that federal courts should not have intervened in this case, because Pidot had already lost in state court.