Opinion ID: 77698
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Preliminary Injunction Suit and Hearing

Text: 9 On June 4, 2002, Swanson filed an initial complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On August 13, 2002, Swanson, joined by Cobb and Grimsley, filed an amended complaint against the Alabama Governor, Alabama Attorney General, Alabama Secretary of State, and Probate Judges of Barbour County and Calhoun County. 3 The amended complaint alleged that Alabama's ballot access laws violated the Qualifications Clause; the Interstate Commerce Clause; and the First, Tenth, Fourteenth, and Seventeenth Amendments. The amended complaint sought three forms of relief: (1) injunctive relief to place plaintiffs Swanson, Cobb, and Grimsley on the general election ballot; (2) injunctive relief to stop the implementation of the Act; and (3) a declaratory judgment that the three-percent signature requirement and the Act are unconstitutional. 10 In August 2002, the district court held a preliminary injunction hearing. Plaintiffs Swanson, Cobb, and Grimsley testified about obstacles they faced in collecting valid signatures. Cobb and Grimsley stated that they had collected a sufficient number of signatures by the first primary election date of June 4, but they did not submit their petitions until July 1 because of the late notice of the deadline change. Swanson admitted that he fell short of the three-percent signature threshold, but said that he lost volunteers willing to gather signatures after he learned about the deadline change to June 4. 11 Mark Bodenhausen of the Libertarian Party and Bob Belcher of the Reform Party testified that primary polling places are critical venues for gathering signatures and asserted that the new filing deadline-the first primary election date-would undermine ballot access efforts. Bodenhausen stated that the Libertarian Party gained general ballot access in the 2002 election cycle based on solid election results from the 2000 race, which followed a $100,000 signature-gathering campaign begun seventeen months before the 2000 election. 4 12 Richard Winger, the editor of an election law newsletter, testified that polling places are the best locations to gather signatures and that the deadline change would have a very significant effect on independent candidates attempting to qualify for ballot access. Winger also testified that Alabama was the second toughest state for independent and minor party candidates to gain ballot access in 2002. David Gillespie, a political science professor at Presbyterian College, testified that Alabama's ballot access laws were more restrictive than many states and would not contribute to voter education. 13 Despite the short notice of the new June 4, 2002 filing deadline, independent candidates Jimmy Blake and Tracy Larkin testified that they met the three-percent signature requirement and qualified for ballot access in their local races in the 2002 election. 5 Both candidates admitted that they would have had more difficulty qualifying for ballot access if they were not already well-known. 14 After the hearing, the district court granted a preliminary injunction in part and denied it in part on August 30, 2002. Swanson v. Bennett (Swanson I), 219 F.Supp.2d 1225, 1234 (M.D.Ala.2002). The district court found that Alabama's three-percent signature requirement was less than the five-percent signature requirements in other states that had been upheld in two United States Supreme Court cases as not excessive and constitutional. Id. at 1231 (citing Storer v. Brown, 415 U.S. 724, 738, 94 S.Ct. 1274, 1283, 39 L.Ed.2d 714 (1974); Jenness v. Fortson, 403 U.S. 431, 442, 91 S.Ct. 1970, 1976, 29 L.Ed.2d 554 (1971)). The district court also noted that this Court previously had upheld Florida's three-percent signature requirement. Id. at 1231-32 (citing Libertarian Party of Florida v. Florida, 710 F.2d 790, 793 (11th Cir.1983)). The district court further determined that the Alabama statute had sufficient alleviating factors to ease the burden of gathering signatures. Id. at 1232. Accordingly, in denying Swanson's request for a preliminary injunction, the district court determined that plaintiff Swanson did not have a substantial likelihood of success in his challenge to Alabama's three-percent signature requirement. Id. 15 As to plaintiffs Cobb and Grimsley, the district court noted that they had met the three-percent signature requirement and determined that they had a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their claims that they were deprived of fair notice of the change in the filing deadline. Id. at 1229-31. The district court found that Cobb and Grimsley expected to have until July 1 to meet the registration deadline and were given no notice of the new date of June 4. Id. at 1230. Furthermore, the district court found that the State has failed to articulate an adequate reason for applying the new deadline to the current election cycle instead of delaying its applicability or granting candidates such as Cobb and Grimsley a grace period for compliance. Id. Accordingly, the district court concluded that Cobb and Grimsley satisfied the requirements for a preliminary injunction and ordered defendants to place Cobb's and Grimsley's names on the general election ballot. Id. at 1234. The district court emphasized that the problem with the deadline change statute was not its content, but the manner in which it was promulgated without sufficient notice to those affected by its terms. Id.