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Bullock v. Carter, 405 U.S. 134 | Casetext Search + Citator
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Full title:BULLOCK ET AL. v . CARTER ET AL
Date published: Feb 24, 1972
405 U.S. 134 (1972)
92 S. Ct. 849
holding high filing fees collected to finance primary elections unconstitutional
No. 70-128.
Argued November 17, 1971 Decided February 24, 1972
(c) The apportionment of costs among candidates is not the only means available to finance primary elections, and the State can identify certain bodies as political parties entitled to sponsorship if the State itself finances the primaries, as it does general elections, both of which are important parts of the democratic process. Pp. 147-149.
John F. Morehead, Special Assistant Attorney General of Texas, and Pat Bailey, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for appellants. With them on the brief were Crawford C. Martin, Attorney General, Nola White, First Assistant Attorney General, Alfred Walker, Executive Assistant Attorney General, J. C. Davis, William J. Craig, and W.O. Shultz II, Assistant Attorneys General, and Charles F. Herring.
After being denied places on the Democratic primary ballots in their respective counties, these appellees instituted separate actions in the District Court challenging the validity of the Texas filing-fee system. Their actions were consolidated, and a three-judge District Court was convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2281 and 2284. Appellee Jenkins was permitted to intervene as a voter on his claimed desire to vote for Wischkaemper, and appellee Guzman and others were permitted to intervene as voters desiring to cast their ballots for Pate. On April 3, 1970, the District Court ordered that Wischkaemper and Pate be permitted to participate in the primary conducted on May 2, 1970, without pre-payment of filing fees. Following a hearing on the merits, the three-judge court declared the Texas filing-fee scheme unconstitutional and enjoined its enforcement. 321 F. Supp. 1358 (ND Tex. 1970). A direct appeal was taken under 28 U.S.C. § 1253, and we noted probable jurisdiction. 403 U.S. 904.
Under the Texas statute, payment of the filing fee is an absolute prerequisite to a candidate's participation in a primary election. There is no alternative procedure by which a potential candidate who is unable to pay the fee can get on the primary ballot by way of petitioning voters, and write-in votes are not permitted in primary elections for public office. Any person who is willing and able to pay the filing fee and who meets the basic eligibility requirements for holding the office sought can run in a primary.
Texas law does permit the names of independent candidates to appear on the official ballot in the general election if a proper application containing a voter petition is submitted. The number of eligible voters required to sign the petition varies from 1% to 5% depending on the office sought. For district, county, and precinct offices, candidates must obtain the signatures of 5% of the eligible voters with a ceiling of 500 signatures. No person may sign the application of more than one person for the same office, and no person who has voted in a primary may sign the application of a candidate for an office for which a nomination was made at such primary. Art. 13.50, Tex. Election Code Ann. (1967).
Art. 13.09(b), Tex. Election Code Ann. (Supp. 1970-1971). Write-in votes are permitted for the party offices of county chairman and precinct chairman in the general primary but not in the run-off primary. Ibid.
Former Art. 13.08c (repealed, Acts 1967, 60th Leg., p. 1932. c. 723, § 77) permitted write-in votes in primary elections and provided that if a write-in candidate in the first primary either received a majority of the votes or was one of the two highest vote getters in a race in which no candidate received a majority of the votes, he could not be the party's nominee in the general election or participate in the run-off primary, unless and until he paid the filing fee he would have been assessed had he originally sought a place on the primary ballot.
Candidates for most district, county, and precinct offices must pay their filing fee to the county executive committee of the political party conducting the primary; the committee also determines the amount of the fee. The party committee must make an estimate of the total cost of the primary and apportion it among the various candidates "as in their judgment is just and equitable." The committee's judgment is to be guided by "the importance, emolument, and term of office for which the nomination is to be made." In counties with populations of one million or more, candidates for offices of two-year terms can be assessed up to 10% of their aggregate annual salary, and candidates for offices of four-year terms can be assessed up to 15% of their aggregate annual salary. In smaller counties there are no such percentage limitations.
Art. 13.08, Tex. Election Code Ann. (Supp. 1970-1971).
Art. 13.08a, Tex. Election Code Ann. (Supp. 1970-1971). This provision is applicable to Members of Congress.
The record shows that the fees required of the candidates in this case are far from exceptional in their magnitude. The size of the filing fees is plainly a natural consequence of a statutory system that places the burden of financing primary elections on candidates rather than on the governmental unit, and that imposes a particularly heavy burden on candidates for local office. The filing fees required of candidates seeking nomination for state offices and offices involving statewide primaries are more closely regulated by statute and tend to be appreciably smaller. The filing fees for candidates for State Representative range from $150 to $600, depending on the population of the county from which nomination is sought. Candidates for State Senator are subject to a maximum assessment of $1,000. Candidates for nominations requiring statewide primaries, including candidates for Governor and United States Senator, must pay a filing fee of $1,000 to the chairman of the state executive committee of the party conducting the primary. Candidates for the State Board of Education have a fixed filing fee of $50.
Arts. 13.08a, 13.16 subd. 2, Tex. Election Code Ann. (Supp. 1970-1971):
Art. 13.08a, Tex. Election Code Ann. (Supp. 1970-1971). There is a fixed-fee schedule if nomination is sought from a country with a population of 650,000 or more:
There is a ceiling on the filing fee if nomination is sought in a senatorial district encompassing counties with less than 650,000 in Page 140 population. Art. 13.16 subd. 1, Tex. Election Code Ann. (Supp. 1970-1971):
Art. 13.15, Tex. Election Code Ann. (Supp. 1970-1971). Candidates for Justice of the Court of Civil Appeals are also required to pay their filing fees to the chairman of the state committee, at the rate of 5% of one year's salary. Ibid.
Art. 13.08(4), Tex. Election Code Ann. (Supp. 1970-1971).
The filing-fee requirement is limited to party primary elections, but the mechanism of such elections is the creature of state legislative choice and hence is "state action" within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. Gray v. Sanders, 372 U.S. 368 (1963); Nixon v. Herndon, 273 U.S. 536 (1927). Although we have emphasized on numerous occasions the breadth of power enjoyed by the States in determining voter qualifications and the manner of elections, this power must be exercised in a manner consistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See, e. g., Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23 (1968); Evans v. Cornman, 398 U.S. 419 (1970); Carrington v. Rash, 380 U.S. 89 (1965). The question presented in this case is whether a state law that prevents potential candidates for public office from seeking the nomination of their party due to their inability to pay a portion of the cost of conducting the primary election is state action that unlawfully discriminates against the candidates so excluded or the voters who wish to support them.
Appellants ask the Court to reconsider the scope of Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944), in which the Court held that the action of the Democratic Party of Texas in excluding Negroes from participation in party primaries constituted "state action." See also Terry v. Adams, 345 U.S. 461 (1953); cf. Nixon v. Condon, 286 U.S. 73 (1932). Appellants contend that not every aspect of a party primary election must be considered "state action" cognizable under the Fourteenth Amendment. But we are here concerned with Page 141 the constitutionality of a state law rather than action by a political party and thus have no occasion to consider the scope of the holding in Smith v. Allwright, supra.
The Texas Legislature has enacted a "contingent, temporary law" modifying the filing-fee requirement involved in this case. C. 11, H. B. 5, 62d Leg., 1st Called Sess. (1971). The new provisions allow persons unable to pay the filing fees to have their names placed on the ballot in primary elections if they submit a petition
The Act provides that it is to go into effect only if "(1) the Supreme Court of the United States does not dispose of the appeal [in this case] . . . before January 1, 1972; or (2) the Supreme Court of the United States affirms or refuses to review the judgment of the district court in the aforesaid case . . ." (§ 7(b)). The Act expires of its own force on December 31, 1972, at which time the prior law goes back into effect.
Although the Act has gone into effect due to the absence of decision by the Court on this appeal before January 1, 1972, the change in the law does not render this case moot. The effect of the "contingent, Page 142 temporary law" enacted by the Texas Legislature is to suspend enforcement of the strict filing-fee requirement during calendar year 1972. Since enforcement of the filing-fee requirement under the prior law was permanently enjoined by the court below, that injunction would continue to have force and effect after December 31, 1972. Furthermore, there is a continuing controversy with respect to appellees' obligation to pay the filing fees for participation in the Democratic primary held on May 2, 1970. The order of the District Court allowing appellees Pate and Wischkaemper to run in the primary without payment of fees stated that they would be liable for the fees if they did not ultimately prevail in this action. See n. 3, supra.
See Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 485 (1970); McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 425-426 (1961).
The initial and direct impact of filing fees is felt by aspirants for office, rather than voters, and the Court has not heretofore attached such fundamental status to candidacy as to invoke a rigorous standard of review. However, the rights of voters and the rights of candidates do not lend themselves to neat separation; laws that affect candidates always have at least some theoretical, correlative effect on voters. Of course, not every limitation or incidental burden on the exercise of voting rights is subject to a stringent standard of review. McDonald v. Board of Election, 394 U.S. 802 (1969). Texas does not place a condition on the exercise of the right to vote, nor does it quantitatively dilute votes that have been cast. Rather, the Texas system creates barriers to candidate access to the primary ballot, thereby tending to limit the field of candidates from which voters might choose. The existence of such barriers does not of itself compel close scrutiny. Compare Jenness v. Fortson, 403 U.S. 431 (1971), with Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23 (1968). In approaching candidate restrictions, it is essential to examine in a realistic light the extent and nature of their impact on voters.
Cf. Turner v. Fouche, 396 U.S. 346, 362 (1970); Snowden v. Hughes, 321 U.S. 1 (1944).
See Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966); Kramer v. Union Free School Dist. No. 15, 395 U.S. 621 (1969); Cipriano v. City of Houma, 395 U.S. 701 (1969).
See Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 562 (1964); Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964).
The Court has recognized that a State has a legitimate interest in regulating the number of candidates on the ballot. Jenness v. Fortson, 403 U.S., at 442; Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S., at 32. In so doing, the State understandably and properly seeks to prevent the clogging of its election machinery, avoid voter confusion, and assure that the winner is the choice of a majority, or at least a strong plurality, of those voting, without the expense and burden of runoff elections. Although we have no way of gauging the number of candidates who might enter primaries in Texas if access to the ballot were unimpeded by the large filing fees in question here, we are bound to respect the legitimate objectives of the State in avoiding overcrowded ballots. Moreover, a State has an interest, if not a duty, to protect the integrity of its political processes from frivolous or fraudulent candidacies. Jenness v. Fortson, 403 U.S., at 442.
The Texas Election Code provides that no person shall be nominated at a primary election for any office unless he receives a majority of the votes cast. In the event that no candidate receives a majority, a runoff election is held between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes. Arts. 13.03, 13.07, Tex. Election Code Ann. (1967).
There is no escape from the conclusion that the imposition of filing fees ranging as high as $8,900 tends to limit the number of candidates entering the primaries. However, even under conventional standards of review, a State cannot achieve its objectives by totally arbitrary means; the criterion for differing treatment must bear some relevance to the object of the legislation. Morey v. Doud, 354 U.S. 457, 465 (1957); Smith v. Cahoon, 283 U.S. 553, 567 (1931). To say that the filing fee requirement tends to limit the ballot to the more serious candidates is not enough. There may well be some rational relationship between a candidate's willingness to pay a filing fee and the seriousness with which he takes his candidacy, but the candidates in this case affirmatively alleged that they were unable, not simply unwilling, to pay the assessed fees, and there was no contrary evidence. It is uncontested that the filing fees exclude legitimate as well as frivolous candidates. And even assuming that every person paying the large fees required by Texas law takes his own candidacy seriously, that does not make him a "serious candidate" in the popular sense. If the Texas fee requirement is intended to regulate the ballot by weeding out spurious candidates, it is extraordinarily ill-fitted to that goal; other means to protect those valid interests are available.
Cf. Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S., at 684-685 (Harlan, J., dissenting).
Cf. Turner v. Fouche, 396 U.S., at 364.
Instead of arguing for the reasonableness of the exclusion of some candidates, appellants rely on the fact that the filing-fee requirement is applicable only to party primaries, and point out that a candidate can gain a place on the ballot in the general election without payment of fees by submitting a proper application accompanied by a voter petition. Apart from the fact that the primary election may be more crucial than the general election in certain parts of Texas, we can hardly accept as reasonable an alternative that requires candidates and voters to abandon their party affiliations in order to avoid the burdens of the filing fees imposed by state law. Appellants have not demonstrated that their present filing-fee scheme is a necessary or reasonable tool for regulating the ballot.
Appellants state that Texas requires only the signatures of 1% of the eligible voters. Although this is true for offices voted for statewide, the candidates for local offices in this case would have had to obtain the signatures of 5% of the eligible voters up to a maximum of 500 signatures. Moreover, only those persons not voting in the primary would have been eligible to sign a nominating petition. See n. 5, supra.
See Carter v. Dies, 321 F. Supp. 1358, 1363 (ND Tex. 1970) (Thornberry, J., concurring).
In addition to the State's purported interest in regulating the ballot, the filing fees serve to relieve the State treasury of the cost of conducting the primary elections, and this is a legitimate state objective; in this limited sense it cannot be said that the fee system lacks a rational basis. But under the standard of review we consider applicable to this case, there must be a showing of necessity. Appellants strenuously urge that apportioning the cost among the candidates is the only feasible means for financing the primaries. They argue that if the State must finance the primaries, it will have to determine which political bodies are "parties" so as to be entitled to state sponsorship for their nominating process, and that this will result in new claims of discrimination. Appellants seem to overlook the fact that a similar distinction is presently embodied in Texas law since only those political parties whose gubernatorial candidate received 200,000 or more votes in the last preceding general election are required to conduct primary elections. Moreover, the Court has recently upheld the validity of a state law distinguishing between political parties on the basis of success in prior elections. Jenness v. Fortson, supra. We are not persuaded that Texas would be faced with an impossible task in distinguishing between political parties for the purpose of financing primaries.
Cf. Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S., at 674 (Black, J., dissenting).
Art. 13.02, Tex Election Code Ann. (1967).
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