The EndPartisanship.org coalition filed suit March 5, 2014 in the U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey demanding that every voter should have an equal and meaningful vote at every stage of the state-funded election process, regardless of their party affiliation or non-affiliation.
New Jersey plaintiffs in the suit include Mark Balsam, Charles Donahue, Hans Henkes and Rebecca Feldman who are registered as unaffiliated voters, plaintiff Jaime Martinez, a registered Democrat, and plaintiff Tia Williams, a registered Republican.
The Third Circuit will hear Balsam v Guadagno, 14-3882, on Tuesday, March 17, probably in Philadelphia. The case argues that the U.S. Constitution does not permit states to pay for partisan primaries unless all voters are permitted to vote in those primaries.
The plaintiffs say they would rather not be members of any parties and they just register that way so they can vote in New Jersey partisan primaries.
New Jersey law lets independent voters join a party on primary day, at the polls, and then they can vote in one of the primaries. That voter is then free to re-register as an independent immediately after voting in the primary.
The EndPartisanship.org coalition is the first organized effort to defend and promote the principle that every voter is entitled to an equal right of meaningful participation in the election process, whether or not they choose to affiliate with a political party.
Harry Kresky, counsel to Independent Voting, is the national legal advisor. Chad Peace, legal advisor to IVP, is the national legal strategist. Samuel Gregory is lead counsel to the New Jersey efforts with Kresky and Peace as co-counsel.
EndPartisanship.org coalition members believe in three core principles:
1. The right to a meaningful vote is fundamental.
2. The right to a meaningful vote cannot be abridged by a requirement to join any organization.
3. Public funds cannot be used to subsidize the private activities of political parties.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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1 comment:
The weakness in the case is point #3. There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that says governments can't subsidize private individuals and groups.
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