Secretary of State Mark Martin on Tuesday asked a federal judge to throw out a Feb. 6 lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2013 state law that limits the petition-gathering period for independent candidates.
The lawsuit was filed by Mark Moore, a Benton County resident running for lieutenant governor; Michael Harrod, a Washington County resident running for the District 84 House seat held by Fayetteville Republican Charlie Collins; and William Chris Johnson, a county judge contender in White County. The suit takes aim at Act 1356, which dealt largely with changing the rules for third parties to appear on ballots, but it also amended the procedure for independent candidates filing for office.
Republican and Democratic candidates pay a filing fee to their state party to file for state or federal office. Independent candidates must gather signatures - usually a number equal to 3 percent of registered voters.
The petition process starts 90 days before the filing period, but now, as a result of the changes in the 2013 legislative session, it ends in March instead of May 1.
The candidates say that unfairly hampers their efforts by shortening the time period for collecting signatures and requiring signature-collecting to be done during colder weather.
The suit asks that a judge grant an injunction to stop Martin from enforcing the law, which they say violates their First Amendment right to freedom of speech and their 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law.
In a motion to dismiss, attorney A.J. Kelly, who is deputy secretary of state, argued that the plaintiffs lack standing to sue because the lawsuit was filed before the beginning of this year’s filing period, which ran from Feb. 24 to March 3.
Because none of them could have tried to file for office before the filing period began, none of them sufficiently alleged an actual injury, he said.
Kelly contends that the legal theories advanced in the suit aren’t adequately developed factually, and one of the plaintiffs - Johnson - sued the wrong public official. Kelly also asserted that the lawsuit “is too vague and ambiguous” to allow Martin to reasonably respond.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 04/09/2014