Christian Populist Party v. Secretary of State

• Decision Date: 12 January 1987
• Docket Number: No. LR-C-86-524.,LR-C-86-524.
• Citation: 650 F. Supp. 1205
• Parties: The CHRISTIAN POPULIST PARTY OF ARKANSAS; Ralph P. Forbes, State Chairman and Candidate for United States Senator; the Voters and People of the State of Arkansas; United In a Complaint-Class Action, Plaintiffs, v. The SECRETARY OF STATE OF the STATE OF ARKANSAS; the Officers of the Republican Party of Arkansas aka the Radical Reconstructionists and the Republican National Committee and Its Affiliates; Asa Hutchinson, the Republican Nominee for United States Senate; Dale Bumpers, the Democrat Nominee for United States Senate; the Officers of the National Democrat Party and Its Arkansas Agent; the League of Women Voters of Arkansas; KTHV-11 News and Columbia Broadcasting Systems aka CBS; John R. Starr, Editor and Pundit; the Arkansas Democrat, a Daily Newspaper, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas

650 F. Supp. 1205

The CHRISTIAN POPULIST PARTY OF ARKANSAS; Ralph P. Forbes, State Chairman and Candidate for United States Senator; the Voters and People of the State of Arkansas; United In a Complaint-Class Action, Plaintiffs, v. The SECRETARY OF STATE OF the STATE OF ARKANSAS; the Officers of the Republican Party of Arkansas aka the Radical Reconstructionists and the Republican National Committee and Its Affiliates; Asa Hutchinson, the Republican Nominee for United States Senate; Dale Bumpers, the Democrat Nominee for United States Senate; the Officers of the National Democrat Party and Its Arkansas Agent; the League of Women Voters of Arkansas; KTHV-11 News and Columbia Broadcasting Systems aka CBS; John R. Starr, Editor and Pundit; the Arkansas Democrat, a Daily Newspaper, Defendants.

No. LR-C-86-524.

United States District Court, E.D. Arkansas, W.D.

October 8, 1986.

Order January 12, 1987.

Ralph P. Forbes, pro se.

John Fincher, Little Rock, Ark., for W.J. (Bill) McCuen.

David S. Mitchell, Little Rock, Ark., for Steve Clark.

Candy Russell, Little Rock, Ark., for Officers of the Republican Party of Arkansas.

Pat Moran, Mitchell, Williams, Little Rock, Ark., for Dale Bumpers.

Kirby Smith, III, Little Rock, Ark., for Democratic Party of Arkansas.

Pansy Clements, Little Rock, Ark., for League of Women Voters of Arkansas.

Glenn W. Jones, Barber, McCaskill, Little Rock, Ark., for KTHV-11 and CBS.

Leon Holmes, Wright, Lindsey & Jennings, Little Rock, Ark., for John R. Starr and the Arkansas Democrat.

ON MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER

ROY, District Judge.

Along with their Complaint filed on September 9, 1986, Plaintiffs filed an emergency petition seeking both temporary and permanent injunctive relief, part of which was denied by the Court on that same date. Subsequently, on September 22, Plaintiffs renewed their request for the injunctive relief not addressed by the Court in its Order of September 9. This motion, Plaintiffs' Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, is the matter presently before the Court, which has been regarded as a request for preliminary injunction in order to provide a full opportunity for all interested parties to be heard. In the Motion, Plaintiffs ask that certain Arkansas election statutes be declared unconstitutional and the Arkansas Secretary of State directed to have the ballots for the November 4th general election reprinted to include the names of the candidates of Plaintiff Christian Populist Party (hereinafter CPP). Plaintiff Ralph P. Forbes has also requested that the Court order Defendant Arkansas Television Company (hereinafter KTHV-11) to provide him with "equal time" on its station due to his exclusion from a debate between Defendant Dale Bumpers and Defendant Asa Hutchinson sponsored by Defendant League of Women Voters of Arkansas which was broadcast "live" by KTHV-11 on September 9, 1986. Mr. Forbes is a write-in candidate for the office of United States Senator from Arkansas, as well as the proclaimed nominee of the CPP for that position, and Defendants Bumpers and Hutchinson are the senatorial nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively.

Due to the obvious time constraints herein, the Court considers the claim for equal time to also present a request for immediate relief. Upon consent of all concerned parties, this issue was addressed along with the challenge to the Arkansas statutes at a hearing before the Court on October 1, 1986. These two questions will now be discussed by the Court.

I. PLAINTIFFS' CLAIM FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

In their motion, Plaintiffs claim that Ark. Stat.Ann. § 3-113(l) (Supp.1985) and § 3-606 (Supp.1985) are unconstitutional, although at the hearing Plaintiffs limited their challenge to § 3-113. These statutes provide, in pertinent part:

§ 3-113.

(a) Party pledges, if any, and political practices practice pledges for primary elections shall be filed, and ballot fees shall be paid during regular office hours in the period beginning at twelve o'clock (12:00) noon on the third Tuesday in March and ending at twelve o'clock (12:00) noon on the fourteenth day thereafter, before the preferential primary election. Party pledges, if any, and political practice pledges shall be filed, and ballot fees for special primary elections shall be paid on or before the deadline established by proclamation of the Governor. Provided, pledges and ballot fees for a new Political Party shall be filed and paid as provided in subsection (l) of Section 13 of Article 1 of Act 465 of 1969 § 3-113(l), as amended.

(b) * * *

(l) Any group of voters desiring to file a petition with the Secretary of State signed by qualified electors equal in number to at least three percent (3%) of the total vote cast for the office of Governor or nominees for Presidential Electors, at the last preceding election, so as to establish a Political Party shall file said petition not later than twelve o'clock (12:00) noon on the first Tuesday in May before the preferential primary election. All petitions must be circulated during the period beginning January 1 and ending the first Tuesday in May of any year.

§ 3-606.

Not less than forty-five (45) days before each election, the Secretary of State shall certify to all County Election Commissioners full lists of all candidates to be voted for in their counties respectively, as the nominations have been certified to him; provided, however, that in special elections held to fill vacancies or to elect officers in case of a tie vote, said certification shall issue at the time specified in the writ of election issued by the appropriate constituted authority.

Plaintiffs contend that § 3-113(l) is defective on two grounds — one, that the filing deadline is too remote in time from the general election, and, two, that the number of signatures required to be obtained on petitions is unreasonably high.

Whether a preliminary injunction should issue involves consideration of (1) the threat of irreparable harm to the movant; (2) the state of the balance between this harm and the injury that granting the injunction will inflict on other parties litigant; (3) the probability that movant will succeed on the merits; and (4) the public interest. Dataphase Systems, Inc. v. C L Systems, Inc., 640 F.2d 109, 113 (8th Cir.1981). Thus, in determining whether Plaintiffs are entitled to the preliminary injunctive relief sought, a finding that the challenged statutes are unconstitutional and inclusion of the names of the CPP's candidates on the general election ballot, the Court must apply the facts of the instant case to each of the considerations enumerated above.

1. Threat of irreparable harm to the movant.

The motion challenging the statutes is brought on behalf of Mr. Forbes and the CPP, a heretofore unrecognized and uncertified "political party." From Mr. Forbes' testimony, it is apparent that the CPP is little more than a group consisting of one, sincere, dedicated member (Mr. Forbes) and a handful of unidentified supporters. Mr. Forbes did not name one single person, save himself, who is interested in having the CPP certified as a political party within the State of Arkansas. No petitions or other documents evidencing such interest were presented to the Secretary of State's office or the Court.

Furthermore, it is apparent from Mr. Forbes' testimony that neither he nor the CPP has received any substantial financial support from any source other than himself. The allegation that a number of CPP candidates will be denied access to the ballot unless injunctive relief is granted is without merit, for the evidence reveals that Mr. Forbes is the only known candidate who wishes to run as a member of the CPP. Mr. Forbes testified that he personally had "nominated" several other persons to be candidates of the CPP, and had sent congratulatory letters to each so advising them. However, further testimony revealed that all of these persons, except one independent, were actually nominees of either the Democratic or Republican parties. There is no evidence that any of these other candidates have accepted, welcomed or even acknowledged Mr. Forbes' "nomination" of them. On the evidence presented, the Court finds that Mr. Forbes is the only person interested in running as a representative of the CPP.

In view of the Court's findings that the CPP has only a handful of members, if that many, the only party who could conceivably be harmed by operation of the statute in question is Mr. Forbes. As noted previously, Mr. Forbes is a bona fide write-in candidate for the office of United States Senator for Arkansas. Thus, § 3-113(l) has not precluded Mr. Forbes from exercising his right to run for public office, nor has it deprived the voters of Arkansas of their right to cast a ballot for him in the November general election. Although write-in status in an election is less advantageous than having one's name printed on the ballot, it is sufficient for the purposes of this motion to convince the Court that Mr. Forbes will not suffer any irreparable harm by the denial of his request for injunctive relief.

2. The state of the balance between the harm to Plaintiffs and the injury that granting the injunction will inflict on other parties litigant.

As noted, the Court does not believe that any plaintiff herein will suffer irreparable harm if injunctive relief is not granted. Conversely, Mr. John Fincher, Director of Election Services for Defendant Secretary of State of the State of Arkansas, testified that it would be virtually impossible to start the ballot preparation process over at this time and have the ballots reprinted and delivered to the appropriate county officials sufficiently in advance of the November 4 election for the names of the local candidates to be added. He also stated that to attempt to do so would "wreck the system" and require the additional expenditure of considerable amounts of time, money and effort. There being no...