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1 Robert Timothy Reagan, et al., Illinois's Ballot Access Requirements for a New Party 1 (2018)

handle is hein.congcourts/fjcilba0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CASE STUDIES IN EMERGENCY ELECTION LITIGATION Illinois's Ballot Access Requirements for a New Party Summers v. Smart (John J. Tharp, Jr., and John Robert Blakey, N.D. Ill. 1:14-cv-5398) and Tripp v. Smart (Michael J. Reagan, S.D. Ill. 3:14-cv-890) After failing to obtain enough signatures to appear on the 2014 general election ballot, a minor party filed a federal complaint in the Northern District of Illinois challenging ballot signature re- quirements for new parties. The district judge denied the party im- mediate relief, because the party had met the constitutionally sus- pect criteria. A district judge similarly denied immediate relief in a Southern District case. A new judge in the Northern District later dismissed the case there as precluded by an earlier result in state court. The federal court of appeals later concluded that the ballot access requirements were constitutional. Subject: Getting on the ballot. Topics: Getting on the ballot; laches; recusal; case assignment; matters for state courts. On July 15, 2014, the Green Party, seven of its prospective candidates in the November 4 general election, and a voter filed a federal complaint in the Northern District of Illinois against members of the state board of elections challenging qualifying rules for new political parties.' The court assigned the case to Judge John J. Tharp, Jr.2 On July 18, the plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction placing them on the November ballot. The Green Party in Illinois was considered an established party from 2006 through 2010, but in 2010 its support failed to meet statutory criteria to retain that status. After a challenge to its signatures for the 2014 ballot, the party had fewer than the 25,000 valid signatures required.' Judge Tharp heard the case on July 226 and set a second hearing for Au- gust 13.' Following the second hearing, Judge Tharp promised a decision on August 21. Two Green Party candidates and four party members filed a similar ac- tion in the Southern District of Illinois on August 13. Because of Judge J. 1. Complaint, Summers v. Smart, No. 1:14-cv-5398 (N.D. Ill. July 15, 2014), D.E. 1; Summers v. Smart, 65 F. Supp. 3d 556, 560-61 (N.D. Ill. 2014). 2. Docket Sheet, Summers, No. 1:14-cv-5398 (N.D. Ill. July 15, 2014). 3. Preliminary Injunction Motion, id. (July 18, 2014), D.E. 5; Summers, 65 F. Supp. 3d at 561. 4. Summers, 65 F. Supp. 3d at 559; see Kurt Erickson, Green Party to Miss Ballot, Bloom- ington Pantagraph, Aug. 22, 2014, at Al (Eight years after its candidate for governor re- ceived more than 10 percent of the vote, the Illinois Green Party likely will find itself on the sidelines in the November election.). 5. Summers, 65 F. Supp. 3d at 559-60. 6. Minutes, Summers, No. 1:14-cv-5398 (N.D. Ill. July 22, 2014), D.E. 9. 7. Minutes, id. (July 23, 2014), D.E. 10. 8. Minutes, id. (Aug. 13, 2014), D.E. 25. Federal Judicial Center 4/3/2018 1

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