Opinion ID: 880691
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Basis For The Constitutional Issue

Text: The parts of our statutes which are pertinent follow: XX-XX-XXX. Petition for nomination by independent candidates. (1) ... nominations for public office by an independent candidate ... may be made by a petition for nomination. (2) The petition must contain the same information and the oath of the candidate required for a declaration for nomination. XX-XX-XXX. Filing Deadlines. (1) A petition for nomination, accompanied by the required filing fee, shall be filed with the same officer with whom other nominations for the office sought are filed. Petitions must be submitted, at least 1 week before the deadline for filing, to the election administrator in the county where the signer resides for verification and certification ... In the event there are insufficient signatures on the petition, additional signatures may be submitted before the deadline for filing. (2) ... each petition shall be filed on or before the filing deadline for the primary election or for the special or general election if no primary election is scheduled. XX-XX-XXX. Independent or minor party candidates for president or vice-president. (1) An individual who desires to run for president or vice-president as an independent candidate ... must file a petition for nomination with the secretary of state 90 days prior to the date of the general election. (2) The petition must first be submitted, at least 1 week before the deadline for filing, to the election administrator in the county where the signer resides for verification and certification ... In addition, § 13-10-327, MCA, provides that if a party candidate dies or withdraws after the primary and before the general election, the affected political party shall appoint someone to replace the candidate. Such appointments to fill vacancies must be made no later than 75 days before the election. Section 13-10-327(2), MCA. Candidates on a partisan ticket for an elective office must file their declarations for nomination under § 13-10-201(6), MCA, at least 75 days before the date of the primary election. Insofar as the foregoing statutes affect this case, the primary election was held on June 5, 1990. The final filing date was March 22, 1990. Independent candidates were required to submit their petitions for candidacy by March 15, 1990, to be final by March 22, 1990. Candidates for nomination by a political party for an elective office were required to file their declarations of nomination by March 22, 1990. Since 1990 was not a presidential election year, there were no contests in Montana for the office of President or Vice-President of the United States. The District Court did not quarrel with the requirement that independent candidates submit their petitions to the election administrator prior to the final filing date. Rather it contended that the statute violates the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause in two requirements: (1) the required filing before the primary deadline when the independent's name did not appear on the primary ballot; and, (2) requiring the independent to secure sufficient signatures on a petition and submitting it at least one week before the party candidates must express their intentions. (Under § 13-10-502(2), MCA, the petition of an independent candidate to be placed on the ballot must be signed by electors residing within the county, and the number must be 5% or more of the total vote cast for the successful candidate for the same office at the last general election.)