See more updated information that has come available regarding Virginia Ballot Access laws too.
The American Libertarian Party continues to notch up impressive legal wins including a recent Virginia ballot access complaint. From Richard Winger’s Ballot Access News article titled “Libertarian Party Wins Virginia Lawsuit Against Circulator Residency Requirement“. Take a look:
On May 29, the 4th circuit agreed with the U.S. District Court that residency requirements for circulators are unconstitutional. The lawsuit concerned out-of-state circulators. The case is Libertarian Party of Virginia v Judd, 12-1996. Here is a copy of the 16-page decision. Virginia had vigorously argued that the plaintiff petitioner Darryl Bonner lacked standing, but the judges found that he did have standing. The state said since he injured his knee, he couldn’t have petitioned anyway, but the judges said he could have petitioned while sitting down, and pointed out that Bonner was able to attend his own deposition, notwithstanding the knee problem.
This is the first time a minor party has won a constitutional election law case in the Fourth Circuit since 1989 and 1988, when the Socialist Workers Party won two cases. The 1989 decision struck down Maryland’s filing fee for declared write-in candidates and was called Dixon v Maryland State Administrative Board of Election Laws. The 1988 decision struck down West Virginia’s mandatory language for independent and minor party candidate petitions, which said the signer intends to vote for the candidates listed on the petition; that was called Socialist Workers Party v Hechler. The Fourth Circuit consists of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. UPDATE: here is a lengthy AP news story about the decision.
From the AP article on the Virginia ballot Access battle of the Libertarian Party:
The Libertarian Party of Virginia and Pennsylvania professional petition circulator Darryl Bonner challenged the provision, which is part of a state law that says any political party that fails to get 10 percent of the vote cast in either of the last two statewide elections must submit petitions containing at least 10,000 signatures to get a presidential candidate on the general election ballot. At least 400 signatures must be from each of the state’s 11 congressional districts.
Lawyers for the state Board of Elections argued that without the law, it would be too difficult to prosecute nonresident petition circulators who commit election fraud. The plaintiffs did not dispute that the state has a compelling interest in combating voter fraud but said it was required to impose the least restrictive alternative. One such solution, they said, would be requiring out-of-state circulators to sign an agreement to comply with any civil or criminal subpoena.
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