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from Ballot Access News
Pennsylvania Minor Parties File Brief in 3rd Circuit
October 20th, 2010
On October 20, the Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties of Pennsylvania filed this 39-page brief in the Third Circuit. The case is Constitution Party of Pennsylvania v Cortes, 10-3205. The issues are the Pennsylvania challenge system that subjects minor parties and independent candidates to the risk of paying up to $100,000 if they submit a petition that is insufficient; Pennsylvania’s abysmal record of counting and tallying write-ins; and the state’s threshold for a party to be ballot-qualified without petitioning. That threshold is that it have registration membership of 15% of the state total, a hurdle so high that if the same law existed in Utah, the Democratic Party would not be on the ballot; and if it existed in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island, the Republican Party would not be ballot-qualified.
The U.S. District Court had refused to adjudicate the lawsuit on the grounds that the plaintiffs lack standing or their claims are not ripe.
Filed under: 3rd party, Ballot issues, elections, grassroots democracy, Green Party, News, politics, progressive politics, third party, US Politics Tagged: | ballot access, candidate petitions, civil cases, constitution party, Constitution Party of Pennsylvania, election law, Green Party, Green Party of Pennsylvania, libertarian, pennsylvania, Pennsylvania politics, petitions, third parties
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