N E W S R E L E A S E
FOR RELEASE: Thursday, December 5, 2013
CONTACT: Frank Fluckiger, National Chairman: 801-544-405
Jon Barrie, NM Constitution Party Chairman: 505-508-3607
New Mexico Constitution Party Sues Secretary of State
National and State Parties Seek Reversal of Denial of Ballot Position
On July 18, 2013, the Constitution Party of New Mexico (CPNM) received a letter from Secretary of State Dianna Duran (SOS) stating that they are not qualified for ballot access. However, she did not follow state Elections Code that requires a notice of disqualification no later than March 15, 2013. The SOS did not notify county clerks of the removal and non-qualification of the party within the required time frame, and failed to notify registered members of the party within 45 days of the non-qualification of the party. Party members did not receive notice until November 1, 2013, a full six months past the deadline. In addition, the SOS broke precedent: from 1997 through 2011, when a party submitted a successful ballot access petition as CPNM did, it attained ballot status the next two elections not just one.
On November 25, Jon Barrie, Chairman of the NMCP, filed an Emergency Petition for Writ of Mandamus with the New Mexico Supreme Court to reverse Dianna Duran’s ruling — on November 26 the Court asked the SOS to respond by December 14.
In 2012, Jon Barrie had to file in the Supreme Court to have his name on the ballot as US Senate candidate when the SOS ruled that despite submitting 10,279 signatures to be on the ballot, the Barrie campaign was 315 names short of the requited 6,028 valid signatures. A Supreme Court ruling found in favor of Barrie, and he went on to receive 3.6 percent of the vote. Albuquerque attorney Charles N. Lakins, who handled the case last year, is representing the party in this latest lawsuit, and a copy of the filing is available from the NMCP. The suit asserts:
“Equal protection analysis in the Fifth Amendment area is the same as that under the Fourteenth Amendment. Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636, 638 n. 2 (1975), and cases cited. In several situations concerning the electoral process, the principle has been developed that restrictions on access to the electoral process must survive exacting scrutiny. The restriction can be sustained only if it furthers a ‘vital’ governmental interest, American Party of Texas v. White, 415 U.S. 767, 780-781 (1974), that is achieved by a means that does not unfairly or unnecessarily burden either a minority party’s or an individual candidate’s equally important interest in the continued availability of political opportunity. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 94-95 (1976).”
NMCP Chairman Jon Barrie commented, “Of all the functions of government, the Secretary of State should be held to the highest standards — from commerce to political campaigns, New Mexicans must rely on that office for fairness and equality. In this instance, Dianna Duran let her partisan favoritism get in the way of her obligation to give voters of every persuasion an opportunity to participate in elections. Once again, it’ll be a David vs. Goliath court fight, but I’m confident that win or lose, New Mexico’s voters will better understand how raw political power wielded by a few ‘mainstream’ party operatives is used to keep alternative voices out of the election arena.”
Frank Fluckiger, National Chairman of the Constitution Party, stated, “We are helping to underwrite this case because not only is it unfair to New Mexican voters, but we want to use it as an example when we enter ballot access battles in other states. Those range from ridiculously high number of signatures needed by a candidate to appear on the ballot (for example, in Texas where 20 percent of the vote in the previous general election is required), to exorbitant filing fees ($10,000 in Florida) for candidates seeking office. Election Day must be a free market, open to all voters.”
The Constitution Party traces its origins to 1992, when a number of independent state parties united to form the U.S. Taxpayers Party. In 1999, the organization changed its name to the “Constitution Party” to better reflect the party’s core beliefs. It has run presidential candidates ever since its founding; in 2012 the party nominee was former Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode.
I guess we’ll see next year how many candidates they will actually be able to put on the ballot.
Yeah… The Arizona situation is complicated; we are not recognized by the SoS at the moment, yet we are allowed to run candidates like a ballot-qualified party, and we are going to be doing just that next year.
Oh and FYI, the National IAP is also on the ballot in Oregon & Arizona (sort of), and is working on ballot access in several other states at the moment.
And not only are we on the ballot for 2014, but also for 2016 as well, regardless what happens next year, however the NMIAP does intend to run candidates for state and federal office for 2014, and we will use every means and resources necessary to get our candidates on the ballot.
I guess the proof of that will be wehn IAP gets some candidates on the ballot withot Barrie, then we’ll see.
We got our own resources; we are not dependent on one person only, especially in NM.
Barrie qualified as IAP but then switched to CP, so whatever resources he brought to get either or both parties on the ballot will not help the IAP in qualifying new candidates now.
Yeah I wasn’t aware the IAP was ballot qualified. I know Jon Barrie did pretty well in his campaign for Senate, but I hadn’t heard of the party achieving ballot access. Regardless, Paulie is right, getting candidates on the ballot for offices other than President is a hassle. So if you’re really going to attempt it again, best of luck.
IAP is on the ballot separately from CP there?
Also, just having the party on the ballot in NM is not enough…there is a hefty double-petition requirement for candidates on top of having to get the party on.
Best of luck to the New Mexico CP in their lawsuit, yet on the National IAP’s end, our state affiliate there is on the ballot and is expanding with a new State Chairman and a reorganized state central committee, and we look forward to running candidates for office next year.