Judge To Tackle Legality Of Out-Of-State Petition Circulators For Third-Party Nominations
An administrative law judge will determine Wednesday whether Libertarian Lana Leguía can stay on the ballot in New Jersey’s 7th congressional district after the majority of her petition signatures were collected by non-residents of New Jersey.
Leguía is challenging a statute that requires petition circulators for third-party candidates to be residents of New Jersey. A similar but distinct statute for primary elections — really only relevant for Democrats and Republicans — has repeatedly been struck down on First Amendment grounds.
Now, Leguía argues the third-party statute should be struck down as well. Her attorney, Joseph Fortunato, pointed to the Arsenault case, saying the free-speech considerations that apply to that case must also apply to independents and third-party candidates seeking ballot access.
“Arsenault analyzed the political speech of the petition circulators themselves and has ruled that that is political speech, the most protected kind of speech,” he said. “The speech which deserves the strictest of scrutiny, because it involves a core constitutional right.”
https://newjerseyglobe.com/voters/judge-to-tackle-legality-of-out-of-state-petition-circulators-for-third-party-nominations/