Libertarian Party of Conn. v. Merrill

470 F.Supp.3d 169

LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.Denise MERRILL, Secretary of State, et al., Defendants.

CIVIL CASE NO. 3:20-CV-0467 (JCH)

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

Signed June 27, 2020

Edward E. Bona, Norwich, CT, for Plaintiffs.

Daniel Reale, Plainfield, CT, pro se.

Alma Rose Nunley, Maura Murphy-Osborne, Office of the Connecticut Attorney General, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.

RULING ON THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT, DANIEL REALE, AND HAROLD HARRIS’ MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER; THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT, DANIEL REALE, AND HAROLD HARRIS’ EMERGENCY MOTION TO GRANT MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER; THE INDEPENDENT PARTY OF CONNECTICUT AND MICHAEL TELESCA'S MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION; ETHAN ALCORN'S MOTION TO INTERVENE; AND THE GREEN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT'S MOTION TO INTERVENE.

Janet C. Hall, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

The Libertarian Party of Connecticut ("Libertarian Party"), Daniel Reale ("Reale"), and Harold Harris ("Harris") (collectively, the "Libertarian Party plaintiffs") bring this action against Secretary of State Denise Merrill and Governor Ned Lamont ("defendants"), challenging the enforcement of Connecticut's ballot access laws. See Verified Complaint ("LP Compl.") (Doc. No. 1). The Independent Party of Connecticut ("Independent Party") and its Chair, Michael Telesca ("Telesca") (collectively, the "Independent Party plaintiffs") have intervened in this action, along with Kyle Kopitke ("Kopitke"), an unaffiliated candidate running for president.

Pending before the court is the Green Party of Connecticut's ("Green Party") Motion to Intervene (Doc. No. 54) and Ethan Alcorn's ("Alcorn") Motion to Intervene (Doc. No. 49). These Motions are granted.

Also pending before the court are two Motions for injunctive relief filed by the Libertarian Party plaintiffs (Doc. Nos. 2 & 12)¹ and the Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. No. 43) filed by the Independent Party plaintiffs. In these Motions, the Libertarian Party plaintiffs and Independent Party plaintiffs (collectively, the "moving plaintiffs") move this court to enjoin the defendants’ enforcement of Connecticut's ballot access states which require certain minor party candidates to petition onto the ballot through the collection of voter signatures.² Specifically, the Libertarian Party plaintiffs request that defendants be ordered "to place any candidate for the Libertarian Party line on the ballot [that] the Libertarian Party of Connecticut reports as their nominee for the November 2020 General Election." LP Mot. at 3.³ Originally, the Independent Party plaintiffs requested the same relief for all endorsed candidates of the Independent Party. IP Mot. at 1. At oral argument, however, counsel for the Independent Party plaintiffs represented that his clients now seek more limited relief: an order enjoining the defendants’ enforcement of Connecticut's ballot access statutes as against Independent Party endorsed candidates for U.S. Congress and the presidency.

For the reasons that follow, the Libertarian Party plaintiffs’ Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Doc. No. 2), the Libertarian Party plaintiffs’ Emergency Motion to Grant Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Doc. No. 12), and the Independent Party plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. No. 43) are denied.

II. FACTS⁴

A. Factual Background

1. The Parties

The Libertarian Party and Independent Party are two of Connecticut's four statewide minor parties.⁵ LP Compl. ¶ 2; Independent Party's Verified Complaint ("IP Compl.") (Doc. No. 41) ¶ 2. The Libertarian Party has 2,895 enrolled members in Connecticut. See Declaration of Theodore Bromley ("Bromley Decl.") (Doc. No. 46-1) ¶ 12. The Independent Party has a broader base of support and presently has about 30,000 registered voters statewide. IP Compl. ¶ 3.

Both parties have nominated several candidates to run for various national, state, and municipal offices in the 2020 election cycle. IP Compl. ¶ 4; LP Compl. ¶¶ 1, 3. As described below, candidates of the Libertarian Party and Independent Party who do not have automatic ballot access based upon previous electoral success must petition onto the ballot by obtaining a certain number of signatures. See, infra, § II(A)(2). As of June 19, 2020, the Libertarian Party had requested petition forms for 13 offices. See Supplemental Declaration of Theodore Bromley ("Bromley Supp. Decl.") (Doc. No. 62), table 5. The Independent Party had requested petition forms for five offices by this date. Id.

Also included in this action are several individual plaintiffs associated with the two parties. Harold Harris was nominated by the Libertarian Party as its candidate for the 4th State Senate District of the Connecticut General Assembly. LP Compl. ¶ 1. Daniel Reale is the Libertarian Party's nominated candidate for Connecticut's 2nd congressional district. Id. ¶ 3. Harris and Reale allege that Connecticut's ballot access laws make it impossible for them to run for office and jeopardize their health by requiring that they circulate ballot petitions. Id. ¶¶ 12, 66. Michael Telesca ("Telesca") is a registered voter in Connecticut and is the Chairman of the Independent Party of Connecticut. IP Compl. ¶ 12. Telesca alleges that the exclusion of Independent Party candidates caused by the enforcement of Connecticut's signature requirement would deprive him of an effective choice at the ballot. Id. ¶ 62.

Intervening plaintiffs Kyle Kopitke and Ethan Alcorn are two individuals running for president. They are unaffiliated with any party. They both similarly allege that, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Connecticut's ballot access laws unduly restrict their access to the ballot. See Intervenor Complaint of Kyle Kopitke ("Kopitke Compl.") (Doc. No. 23) ¶ 22; Intervenor Complaint of Ethan Alcorn ("Alcorn Compl.") (Doc. No. 49-1) ¶ 22.

2. Connecticut's Ballot Access Laws

There are presently four statewide minor parties in Connecticut: the Green Party, the Independent Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Working Families Party. IP Compl. ¶ 20. Connecticut's ballot access laws provide minor party candidates two avenues to appear on the ballot. First, minor party candidates have automatic ballot access in races in which a candidate of that minor party received at least 1% of the vote for that particular office in the prior election.⁶

Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 9-372(6), 9-379. If a minor party did not have a candidate for that office in the prior election, or if its candidate received less than 1% of the vote, then a minor party candidate can obtain ballot access only by petitioning unto the ballot. See Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-453a et seq. The same petitioning requirements also apply to candidates unaffiliated with any political party. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-379. In this action, plaintiffs challenge this second avenue – Connecticut's petitioning process for unaffiliated candidates and minor party candidates that do not have automatic ballot access.

Connecticut's petitioning requirements are set forth in sections 9-453a through 9-453u of the Connecticut General Statutes. Section 9-453d provides that minor party and unaffiliated candidates may petition onto the ballot by gathering signatures equal to the amount of 1% of the actual voters in the previous election for that office, or 7,500 signatures, whichever is fewer. This year, the petitioning period began on January 2, 2020, and was scheduled to run until August 5, 2020. IP Compl. ¶ 27; see also Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 9-453b, 9-453i. During this seven-month window, candidates must collect the required number of valid signatures in order to appear on the ballot. The petition forms must include lines for the voters to provide their name, address, and date of birth. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-453a. The person circulating the petition must witness the voter's in-person signature and certify to that on the petition. Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 9-453j.

The Secretary of State publishes a table of the number of valid signatures required for each office on her website. See Required Signature Table, Ex. C (Doc. No. 44-3). For president, 7,500 signatures would be required in 2020 under the statutory signature requirements. Id. For representatives in Congress, 2,703 to 2,892 signatures would be required. Id. The numbers of required signatures for General Assembly races are much smaller and range from 74 to 528 signatures for the State Senate, and 10 to 130 signatures for the House of Representatives. Id.

3. The COVID-19 Pandemic

All parties agree that the outbreak of COVID-19 has caused significant disruption to the daily lives of all Connecticut residents, as well as the 2020 election cycle in Connecticut. In response to the pandemic, Governor Lamont declared a public health emergency on March 10, 2020, which will remain in effect until September 9, 2020, unless terminated earlier by the Governor. See Declaration of Civil Preparedness and Public Health Emergencies ("Emergency Declaration"), available at https://www.cga.ct.gov/ph/tfs/20200311_Public% 20Health% 20Emergency% 20Committee/Declaration-of-civil-preparedness-and-public-health-emergency.pdf (last accessed June 22, 2020). Governor Lamont also issued a series of Executive Orders aimed at containing the spread of the deadly virus. Among them, Government Lamont issued a "Stay Safe, Stay Home" Executive Order on March 20, 2020. See Executive Order 7H (Mar. 20, 2020). This Order placed restrictions on all workplaces of nonessential businesses. On March 26, 2020, the Governor prohibited social gathering of six people or more, with limited exceptions. See Executive Order 7N (Mar. 26, 2020).

Most relevant to this case, on May 11, Governor Lamont issued Executive Order 7LL, which modified the petitioning process and associated deadlines. The Executive Order extended the deadline to submit petitions by two days, from August 5 to August 7. See Executive Order 7LL (May 11,...