Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...Stat. Should a Secretary of State decide to enforce the bonding statute against a non-complying organization, plainly serious consequences, both immediate and concrete, may result. For example, only qualifying candidates of registered parties and qualifying independent candidates may appear on the ballot. See Section 99.096, Fla....

...Because the district court opinion does not hold that the Secretary does not have the authority to enforce Section 103.121(3), it cannot bind future Secretaries of State from applying Section 103.121(3). 13 independent candidates may appear on the ballot. See Section 99.096, Fla....

...Distinguishing Libertarian Party 12 We note preliminarily that Libertarian Party, in which this court upheld three provisions of Florida's election law against equal protection and First Amendment challenges, does not control. In that case, the Libertarian Party first argued that Fla.Stat. § 99.096(1), which required that minor-party candidates for statewide office submit signatures of three percent of the state's registered voters to gain access to the general election ballot, impermissibly burdened their rights....

...1970, 1976 , 29 L.Ed.2d 554 (1971)); and (2) was the "least drastic means" to protect this interest. Id. at 793. Appellants here do not challenge the one-percent-signature requirement for access to the Presidential ballot. 13 Second, the Libertarian Party challenged the provision of Fla.Stat. § 99.096(1) that "a minor political party may not run a candidate in a local election without first obtaining access to the state's general election ballot through the 3% statewide petitioning requirement," while an independent candidate could run in a local election without circulating a statewide petition....

...5 Thus, we could not have decided the issue. We did mention the fee-waiver provision, but only as part of a description of the code section: 16 Florida's procedures are not impermissibly burdensome as to cost. Florida provides petitions free of charge. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.096(2) (West 1982)....

...does not have registered as members 5 percent of the total registered electors of the state." Fla.Stat. § 97.021(14) 2 Section 99.097, titled "Verification of signatures on petitions," applies also to petitions submitted by independent and minor-party candidates for state office, see Fla.Stat. §§ 99.0955 & 99.096, and petitions submitted by organizations seeking to place initiatives on the ballot....

...parties to file a petition signed by three percent of the state's registered voters in order to have the names of its candidates placed on ballots for statewide offices. Libertarian Party of Florida v. State of Florida, 710 F.2d 790 (11th Cir.1983) (upholding Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.096(1) (West 1982)); see also U.S....

...Appellants, the Libertarian Party of Florida, four Libertarian candidates for various offices, and three registered voters, seek reversal of a final judgment ruling against their complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief which challenged the constitutionality of section 99.096(2), Florida Statutes (1993)....

...sponsoring party has obtained a petition signed by 3 per cent of the registered electors of the district, county or geographical entity represented by the office sought. The appellants claim that the lower court erred when it (i) refused to declare section 99.096(2) unconstitutional because the provision imposes upon minor party candidates a more stringent means of ballot access than is imposed upon candidates of the two major parties, the Republican and Democratic Parties, and (ii) refused to...

...2 general election. Because we agree with the trial court that the statute is constitutional both on its face and as applied, we affirm. A statute is presumed constitutional. State v. Slaughter, 574 So.2d 218 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). Further, in finding section 99.096(2) and its predecessors constitutional, the Florida Supreme Court and the federal courts have consistently rejected arguments similar to those raised here by appellants....

...Brown, 415 U.S. 724, 733, 94 S.Ct. 1274, 1280, 39 L.Ed.2d 714 (1974). Plaintiffs simply can register as "independent candidates for office," pursuant to § 99.0955, Florida Statutes. Alternatively, Plaintiffs can register as "minor party candidates," pursuant to § 99.096....

...d by three percent of the state’s registered voters in order to have the names of its candidates placed on ballots for statewide offices. Libertarian Party of Florida v. State of Florida, 710 F.2d 790 (11th Cir. 1983) (upholding Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.096(1) (West 1982)); see also U.S....

...ty candidates, and spaces for write-in candidates may be listed on the general election ballot and may compete for the same offices as the major political party candidates in compliance with the Florida Election Code. § 99.0955, Fla. Stat. (2018) ; § 99.096, Fla....

...Distinguishing Libertarian Party We note preliminarily that Libertarian Party, in which this court upheld three provisions of Florida’s election law against equal protection and First Amendment challenges, does not control. In that case, the Libertarian Party first argued that Fla. Stat. § 99.096 (1), which required that minor-party candidates for statewide office submit signatures of three percent of the state’s registered votérs to gain access to the general election ballot, impermissibly burdened their rights....

...1970, 1976 , 29 L.Ed.2d 554 (1971)); and (2) was the “least drastic means” to protect this interest. Id. at 793. Appellants here do not challenge the one-percent-signature requirement for access to the Presidential ballot. Second, the Libertarian Party challenged the provision of Fla.Stat. § 99.096(1) that “a minor political party may not run a candidate in a local election without first obtaining access to the state’s general election....

...5 Thus, we could not have decided the issue. We did mention the fee-waiver provision, but only as part of a description of the code section: Florida’s procedures are not impermis-sibly burdensome as to cost. Florida provides petitions free of charge. Fla. Stat.Ann. § 99.096(2) (West 1982)....

...does not have registered as members 5 percent of' the total registered electors of the state." Fla.Stat. § 97.021(14). . Section 99.097, titled “Verification of signatures on petitions,” applies also to petitions submitted by independent and minor-party candidates for state office, see Fla.Stat. §§ 99.0955 & 99.096, and petitions submitted by organizations seeking to place initiatives on the ballot....

...rcing the unconstitutional provision with respect to any minor political party. On Plaintiffs’ second point, the statute in question here applies only to supervisors of elections and not to the Secretary of State, as a plain reading of Fla.Stat. §§ 99.096-99.097 makes clear. Candidates seeking ballot access by petition are required to file a separate petition to the supervisor of elections in each county from which signatures are sought. § 99.096(3)....

...Other plaintiffs are party members who ran for public office in the November 1982 elections: Alan Turin, candidate for the state legislature; William Marina, candidate for statewide office; and Ed Clark, candidate for United States President. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.096(1) (West 1982) 1 provides that a minor political party may have the names of its candidates for statewide office printed on the general election ballot if a petition requesting that the party be assigned a position on the ballot is signed by 3% of the state’s registered voters....

...Florida imposes no limit on the number of signatures a party may submit in its effort to meet the 3% requirement. Plaintiffs estimated they needed one-and-a-half times the 144,492 signatures required, or 220,000 signatures, to ensure they had enough valid signatures under § 99.096(1)....

...ns. Conclusory allegations cannot prevail. American Party of Texas v. White, 415 U.S. at 781, 790, 94 S.Ct. at 1306, 1310 . Florida’s procedures are not impermissibly burdensome as to cost. Florida provides petitions free of charge. Fla.Stat. Ann. § 99.096(2) (West 1982)....

...American Party of Texas v. White, 415 U.S. at 793-94, 94 S.Ct. at 1312-1313 . In local elections, independent candidates may be listed on the ballot by filing petitions signed by 3% of the voters in that district. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.0955 (West 1982). 2 In contrast, § 99.096(1) requires minor parties to file the local 3% petition plus qualify by the statewide 3% petition....

...n ballot is signed by 3 percent of the registered electors of the district, county, or other geographical entity represented by the office, as shown by the compilation by the Department of State for the last preceding general election. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.096(1) (West 1982)....

...compliance with the requirements of this code. § 100.051, Fla. Stat. (2018) (emphasis added). While the Fifth District did not consider this below, candidates may qualify for the general ballot by other methods than party nomination. See §§ 99.0955–99.096, Fla....

...with no party affiliation shall file his or her qualifying papers and pay the qualifying fee or qualify by the petition process pursuant to s. 99.095 [and] . . . [u]pon qualifying, the candidate is entitled to have his or her name placed on the general election ballot.” Moreover, section 99.096, Florida Statutes (2018), explains that “[e]ach person seeking to qualify for election as a candidate of a minor political party shall file his or her qualifying papers with, and pay the qualifying fee and, if one has been levied,...

...2d at 668. - 23 -  The majority attempts to circumvent this conflict by equating no-party affiliation candidates and minor political party candidates with nonpartisan elections. See majority op. at 7 (citing §§ 99.0955, 99.096, Fla. Stat.). But this is a serious misunderstanding of the Florida Election Code and basic election law. Sections 99.0955(1) and 99.096 allow for no-party affiliation candidates and minor political party candidates to participate in a partisan general election by a petition process as well as appear on the general election ballot alongside major party candidates nominated in the primary election....

...bstantial discriminatory impact upon voting, associational and expressive rights protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. . We have rejected the Libertarian Party's challenge to the constitutionality of the 3 percent petition requirement in section 99.096(2), Florida Statutes (1993)....

twenty-five percent of the signatures required by section 99.096, Fla. Stat., must be obtained. See, s. 100

...It is probably true that the interest in preventing factionalism is best effectuated by petition requirements and other limitations on ballot access.[FN4] [FN4.] We have rejected the Libertarian Party's challenge to the constitutionality of the 3 percent petition requirement in section 99.096(2), Florida Statutes (1993)....