A federal judge has ruled against a lawsuit that sought to overturn Pennsylvania's unfair ballot access law. National ballot access legal expert Richard Winger criticized Judge Jones' decision against fair ballot access as having serious flaws. Jones' contention that the State's concern about "ballot clutter" is legitimate has been repudiated by the experience of dozens of states throughout the country. Scholarly analysis has shown that a modest signature requirement of only 5,000 signatures is sufficient to prevent extreme numbers of candidates from appearing on the ballot. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has said in the past that "the ballot crowding argument is a phony." No wonder: common sense, real-world experience, and legal scholarship all support that opinion.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs indicated that the decision will be appealed.
The judge's controversial decision is here (892 KB PDF).
It is now more important than ever for Pennsylvania citizens to demand that their state representatives support the Voters' Choice Act.