New Mexico independent candidate Bob Perls had to file this lawsuit in state court to have a chance to be on ballot

From Ballot Access News:

On July 15, independent candidate Bob Perls filed a lawsuit in state court, arguing that the number of signatures needed for independent candidates in New Mexico violates the state Constitution. The New Mexico Constitution says, “All elections shall be free and open, and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage.”

Perls is a candidate for Public Regulation Commission. If he doesn’t win his lawsuit, only one candidate, a Democrat, will be on the November ballot in his district. The law required him to get 3,643 signatures. Democrats in that district needed 750 signatures of registered Democrats to get on the primary ballot; Republicans needed 450; nominees of qualified parties that nominate by convention need 1,250 signatures and any registered voter may sign for them.

A similar lawsuit was filed in federal court in 2014, Parker v Duran, but a U.S. District Court refused to strike down the law. In some states, including New Mexico, the State Constitution has an explicit protection for the right to vote that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution. The case is Perls v State of New Mexico, Santa Fe County District Court. Perls was once in the state legislature. See this story.

Ballot Access News writer Richard Winger is also quoted as saying, “No independent candidate for any other statewide office has ever qualified in New Mexico. New Mexico is one of only six states in which no independent candidate for governor has ever appeared on the ballot. In the 39 years since New Mexico created independent candidate procedures, only 17 legislative independent candidates have qualified for the ballot.” From the lawsuit:

Defendants, under NMSA 1978 § 1-8-51(E) (2016), denied Mr. Perls’s petition for placement on the 2016 election ballot as a candidate for District 1 of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. The petition contained less than the required number of signatures. As an independent candidate, Mr. Perls was required to gather three times more signatures than a minor party candidate, nearly five times more signatures than a Democratic Party candidate, and eight times more signatures than a Republican Party candidate. Unfortunately, Mr. Perls’ resources did not allow him to meet this heavy burden. Defendants have neither a compelling interest in, nor rational basis for, requiring Mr. Perls to meet so high a burden while giving preferential treatment to other candidates of office. Therefore, NMSA 1978 § 1-8-51(E) (2016), facially and as applied to Mr. Perls, violates the New Mexico constitution.