Federal judge denies New Mexico Forward Party’s request to halt enforcement of ballot access law

A federal judge on Wednesday denied the New Mexico Forward Party’s request to prevent the secretary of state from enforcing laws the party contends imposes unfairly burdensome requirements for minor party ballot access.

Neither Perls nor the Secretary of State’s Office immediately responded to a request for comment on the ruling.

U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Strickland’s order focused on a specific motion the Forward Party filed in July rather than the overall lawsuit. She wrote that several of the party’s candidates have since made the ballot, likely rendering some aspects of the lawsuit moot, and gave Forward Party officials until Sept. 16 to file a response.

In court last week, the party’s attorneys argued that New Mexico has the most burdensome requirements in the nation for minor party candidates to make the ballot. As an example, they noted that state Forward Party Chair Bob Perls, a former state lawmaker, had to collect more than 14,000 signatures to make the ballot as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, but Democrats and Republicans only had to collect 2,500 and 2,350, respectively.

New Mexico Forward Party makes its case for ballot access before a federal judge

Attorneys for New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver responded that the state’s signature requirements for statewide candidates were meant to keep “frivolous” candidates from crowding the ballot. And, they added, the majority of the Forward Party’s candidates qualified for the Nov. 3 general election ballot regardless.

Strickland spoke along similar lines in her Wednesday morning order.

The Forward Party’s “argument that major party candidates get preferential treatment is incorrect,” Strickland wrote, adding that major party candidates must still garner support at a pre-primary convention and compete in a primary election.

Under that logic, she noted, a candidate nominated by the 227-member New Mexico Forward Party, which can “handpick” its nominees, has demonstrated the same level of support as major party candidates clearing requirements of receiving either 20% of the vote at a major party convention or obtaining signatures equivalent to 2% of that party’s nominee for governor.

“That is not the case,” the judge wrote.