Baird v. Davoren

• Decision Date: 04 April 1972
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 70-959,70-990.
• Citation: 346 F. Supp. 515
• Parties: William BAIRD, independent candidate for United States Senator, and Susan Vogel, a registered independent voter, Plaintiffs, v. John F. X. DAVOREN, in his capacity as State Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Defendant. SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY et al., Plaintiffs, v. John F. X. DAVOREN, as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with his Agents and Successors in Office, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

346 F. Supp. 515

William BAIRD, independent candidate for United States Senator, and Susan Vogel, a registered independent voter, Plaintiffs, v. John F. X. DAVOREN, in his capacity as State Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Defendant.

SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY et al., Plaintiffs, v. John F. X. DAVOREN, as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with his Agents and Successors in Office, Defendants.

Civ. A. Nos. 70-959, 70-990.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

February 17, 1972.

Supplemental Opinion April 4, 1972.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Evan T. Lawson, Stephen K. Glickman, Glickman, Lawson & Tenney, Boston, Mass., for plaintiffs Baird and others.

Allan R. Rosenberg, Putnam, Bell & Russell, Boston, Mass., for plaintiffs Socialist Workers Party and others.

Robert J. Condlin, James P. Kiernan, Asst. Attys. Gen., Boston, Mass., for defendants.

Stanley R. Lapon, Cambridge, Mass., for intervenors Socialist Labor Party and Lawrence Gilfedder.

Before ALDRICH, Circuit Judge, JULIAN and MURRAY, District Judges.

OPINION

FRANK J. MURRAY, District Judge.

These two actions, consolidated for trial, seek to have Sections 1 and 6 of Chapter 53 of the Massachusetts General Laws (see Appendix A) declared unconstitutional as violating the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Sections 1 and 6 set forth the procedures for obtaining a place on the ballot in a Massachusetts state election.

The plaintiff Baird was at the time of filing the petition an independent candidate for the office of United States Senator. His co-plaintiff, Susan Vogel, sued on her own behalf and on behalf of the class of all registered voters of Massachusetts who wish to vote for independent candidates for elective office. The Socialist Workers Party, as alleged in the complaint, is a "voluntary unincorporated association of persons devoted to the ideals of socialism through participatory democracy". Joined as co-plaintiffs are Michael Kelly, Toba Leah Singer, and Peter Camejo, respectively candidates for election in the general election of November 3, 1970 for the offices of Governor, Attorney General, and United States Senator under the aegis of the Socialist Workers Party. In addition, Lawrence P. Trainor is a co-plaintiff suing on his own behalf and on behalf of all other registered voters similarly situated who desire to vote for the candidates of the Socialist Workers Party. In the order of the court of July 9, 1971 consolidating these cases, the defendants were directed to notify all parties (other than the Republican and Democrat parties) which appeared on the ballot for United States Senator in the last election of the pendency of this suit and of the opportunity to intervene by motion filed within thirty days of receipt of notice. Thereafter, the Socialist Labor Party and Lawrence Gilfedder, Socialist Labor Party candidate for United States Senator in the last election, intervened in the suit.

The jurisdiction of the court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343(3) and (4), 2201, 2202, and 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1988. Plaintiffs seek to redress the alleged deprivation under color of state law of rights guaranteed them by the First, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

Under the election laws of Massachusetts, nominees of a political party or other group have access to the ballot, if named

(a) by a political party, defined by chapter 50, section 1, of the General Laws, whose candidates received at least three per cent of the vote for governor in the preceding biennial election. Such party may nominate candidates for the ballot by primary election, party caucus or convention. The Democrat and Republican parties are examples of such political parties (hereinafter political parties).

(b) by nomination papers signed by qualified voters equal in number to not less than three per cent of the entire vote for governor at the preceding biennial election, as provided in chapter 53, section 6, or by a convention of delegates chosen by qualified voters at caucuses held in each ward or town, as provided in chapter 53, section 2. If the nomination is by nomination papers, it is provided by chapter 53, section 6, that no more than one third of the signatures shall be from any one county. Such a nominee is commonly called "an independent" candidate, and his group, an independent party (hereinafter independent parties).

(c) by a party (described in chapter 53, section 1) whose candidate for governor at the three preceding biennial elections has polled a number of votes equal to one tenth of one per cent of the total number cast. The intervenor, Socialist Labor Party, is such a party (hereinafter minor parties).

The cases came on to be heard on the motions of the defendants for summary judgment, and were argued by counsel for plaintiffs, defendants and intervenors. Upon consideration of the arguments and briefs, the court concludes, for the reasons set out hereafter, that in accordance with the claims of plaintiffs Baird and Socialist Workers Party (1) the favored status under the Massachusetts election laws of minor parties discriminates invidiously against candidates and parties required to secure signatures not less than three per cent in number of the total vote cast for governor at the preceding election and (2) the statutory limitation of signatures on nominating petitions for state-wide offices to not more than one third from any one county violates the fourteenth amendment, and that contrary to plaintiffs' claim (3) there is no violation of the federal constitution in the three per cent signature requirement of chapter 53, section 6.

History of Amendments to Chapter 53, Sections 1 and 6

The Massachusetts election laws were extensively revised in 1939. Plaintiffs have argued that because new nomination requirements for candidates of both minor parties and independent parties were enacted in that year, they should be regarded as part of a single, indivisible legislative package. A brief examination of the history of this legislation however, will dispose of that contention. By a bill enacted on May 10, 1939, chapter 53, section 6 was amended to provide that nominations for statewide offices by any parties other than political parties were to be made by nominating petitions signed by a number of voters not less than three per cent of the number of votes cast for governor in the last biennial state election. (See Appendix B.) At the time of the passage of the bill, no special provision was made for the so-called "minor parties", and Governor Saltonstall was advised that the new law would probably destroy several small minority parties. The Governor sent a message to the Legislature on June 27, 1939, requesting that the statute be further amended to preserve these small parties (see Appendix C). On July 19 the Legislature amended chapter 53, section 1, to allow relief from the three per cent signature requirement to parties which had obtained one tenth of one per cent of the votes for governor in the last three biennial state elections. (See Appendix D.)

Thus it is clear that the three per cent requirement was prior in time to the exception for minor parties and was intended to be the general requirement. It is also clear that the exception for minor parties was enacted primarily if not solely to save certain small parties existing at the time of the passage of these acts from extinction. It is with this history in mind that plaintiffs' claims must be weighed. In the following discussion, the court will assume the three per cent requirement is the general rule, and the provision for minor parties an exception.

Discussion

I

The right of citizens to associate for the advancement of their political beliefs and the right of qualified voters to choose their public servants through the electoral process have long been firm tenets of our political faith. These rights are enshrined in the first amendment to the Constitution. Indeed, they are of the essence of our governmental scheme, for unless they are preserved intact, other rights, even the most basic, cannot be secure. For this reason, it has been held that "our Constitution leaves no room for classification of people in a way that unnecessarily abridges these rights". Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1, 17-18, 84 S.Ct. 526, 535, 11 L.Ed.2d 481 (1964); Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234, 250, 77 S.Ct. 1203, 1 L.Ed.2d 1311 (1957).

Having regard for these rights, however, a state may impose reasonable regulations upon its own electoral process. Access to the ballot need not be wholly unrestricted to insure compliance with the federal constitution. Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Electors, 360 U.S. 45, 50, 79 S.Ct. 985, 3 L. Ed.2d 1072 (1959). Cf. Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 90 S.Ct. 1153, 25 L.Ed.2d 491 (1970). For example, the requirements that political parties shall nominate candidates through primary elections or party caucuses or conventions, or that independent candidates be nominated by petition, have been held to be reasonable restraints upon access to the ballot. United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 314-18, 61 S.Ct. 1031, 85 L.Ed. 1368 (1941); Briscoe v. Kusper, 435 F.2d 1046, 1054 (7th Cir. 1970). Such restraints serve to highlight both issues and alternative proposals presented to the electorate, and tend to prevent the informational aspect of the electoral process from being overburdened and obfuscated by groups having little or no popular support. Yet because of the importance of these rights, any restraint upon them by state election laws must be scrutinized carefully whenever it is claimed the laws themselves discriminate invidiously among political groups or abridge unduly the right of association and the right to vote. Wesberry v. Sanders, supra; Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649, 64 S.Ct. 757, 88 L.Ed. 987 (1944); Socialist Workers Party v....