On April 7, U.S. District Court Judge Lashann DeArcy Hall, an Obama appointee, refused to enjoin the 2022 New York law that bans “independent” or “Independence” as words that can be part of the name of a party. The judge also assumed that therefore an independent candidate can’t use those labels because if the independent candidate were running for Governor or President and got 2% of the vote, that would create a ballot-qualified party and then that party would have an illegal name.
The judge said the ban is “not severe” because the candidate can campaign as an independent without having that label on the ballot. The decision does not even mention the unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision Gralike v Cook, which struck down a Missouri law that put certain labels on the ballot for candidates that injured them. That case clearly established that the First Amendment free speech provision applies to ballot labels. Yet Judge Hall said the First Amendment doesn’t apply to ballot labels.
The plaintiff, Mayoral candidate Jim Walden, has already appealed to the Second Circuit. Walden v Kosinski, 25-764. The Second Circuit is expediting the case and all briefs will be in by April 15.