CASE STUDIES IN EMERGENCY ELECTION LITIGATION

Federal Judicial Center 9/14/2023 1

Certification as a Write-In Candidate 

Pearlman v. Gonzales (Martha Vázquez, 6:98-cv-1160) 

and Pearlman v. Vigil-Giron 

(Bruce D. Black, 1:00-cv-1475) (D.N.M.) 

A pro se litigant filed a federal complaint challenging his exclusion 

from the gubernatorial ballot as a Green Party candidate because 

the secretary of state determined that the Green Party had become a 

major party requiring nomination by primary election. The district 

judge opined that the plaintiff’s exclusion was improper, but she 

held that the action was barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Two 

years later, the plaintiff filed another federal complaint seeking an 

order that the state provide for write-in presidential candidates. A 

different district judge also determined that the suit was barred by 

the Eleventh Amendment, and moreover it had been filed too late 

for the equitable relief sought. 

Subject: Getting on the ballot. Topics: Getting on the ballot; 

write-in candidate; matters for state courts; laches; pro se party; 

primary election. 

A pro se litigant filed a federal complaint in the District of New Mexico on 

September 23, 1998, challenging the refusal by New Mexico’s secretary of 

state to certify the plaintiff as a write-in Green Party candidate for governor.1

One reason for the refusal was that the Green Party had become a major political party, so its candidate had to be selected in a primary election.2

 Approximately three weeks later, Judge Martha Vázquez determined that “[t]he 

reasons cited by Secretary Gonzales for declining Pearlman’s candidacy are 

not supported by fact or law.”3 Judge Vázquez also determined, however, that 

the suit was barred by the Eleventh Amendment.4 “The proper venue for the 

resolution of this dispute is not with the federal courts but in the New Mexico Supreme Court.”5

 The plaintiff had already failed to prevail there.6

On October 24, 2000, the pro se litigant filed another federal complaint 

against New Mexico’s secretary of state, this time seeking certification as a 

write-in candidate for President and an injunction requiring New Mexico to 

provide a space on the ballot for write-in presidential candidates.7

 On the 

following day, Judge Bruce D. Black opined that the difference in office to 

1. Complaint, Pearlman v. Gonzales, No. 6:98-cv-1160 (D.N.M. Sept. 23, 1998), D.E. 1; 

see Amended Complaint, id. (Sept. 28, 1998), D.E. 3. 

2. Opinion, id. (Oct. 15, 1998), D.E. 9. 

3. Id. at 14. 

4. Id. at 17–21. 

5. Id. at 20. 

6. See High Court Won’t Reconsider Bid, Albuquerque J., Sept. 23, 1998, at C3. 

7. Complaint, Pearlman v. Vigil-Giron, No. 1:00-cv-1475 (D.N.M. Oct. 24, 2000), D.E. 1; 

see Would-Be Write-In Candidate Sues State, Albuquerque J., Oct. 25, 2000, at B3; see also

Michael Janofsky, Forget Third Party, These Presidential Hopefuls Offer Array of Choices, 

N.Y. Times, July 8, 2000, at A10. 
Certification as a Write-In Candidate 

2 Federal Judicial Center 9/14/2023 

which the plaintiff aspired did not negate New Mexico’s Eleventh Amendment immunity.8

 Moreover, the litigant’s filing suit after the ballots had already been printed weighed against the equitable relief he sought.9

 On January 8, 2001, Judge Black granted the secretary’s motion to dismiss the action.10

8. Opinion at 2, Pearlman, No. 1:00-cv-1475 (D.N.M. Oct. 25, 2000), D.E. 2 [hereinafter 

Black Opinion]. 

Judge Black retired on January 1, 2017. Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory of 

Article III Federal Judges, www.fjc.gov/history/judges. 

9. Black Opinion, supra note 8, at 2–3. 

10. Docket Sheet, Pearlman, No. 1:00-cv-1475 (D.N.M. Oct. 24, 2000).