Constitution Party of S.D. v. Nelson

• Citation: 730 F.Supp.2d 992
• Decision Date: 04 August 2010
• Docket Number: No. CIV 10-3011-RAL,CIV 10-3011-RAL
• Parties: CONSTITUTION PARTY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, Joy Howe, Marvin Meyer, and Mark Pickens, Plaintiffs, v. Chris NELSON, in his official capacity as Secretary of State of South Dakota, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of South Dakota

730 F.Supp.2d 992

CONSTITUTION PARTY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, Joy Howe, Marvin Meyer, and Mark Pickens, Plaintiffs,

v.Chris NELSON, in his official capacity as Secretary of State of South Dakota, Defendant.

No. CIV 10-3011-RAL.

United States District Court,

D. South Dakota,

Central Division.

Aug. 4, 2010.

Steven G. Haugaard, Haugaard Law Office, P.C., Sioux Falls, SD, Daniel J. Treuden, The Bernhoft Law Firm, S.C., Milwaukee, WI, for Plaintiffs.

Richard M. Williams, Attorney General of South Dakota, Pierre, SD, for Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

ROBERTO A. LANGE, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

On June 11, 2010, Plaintiffs Constitution Party of South Dakota, Joy Howe, Marvin Meyer, and Mark Pickens, filed a complaint against Defendant Chris Nelson, South Dakota Secretary of State, alleging First and Fourteenth Amendment and Equal Protection Clause claims. Plaintiffs' claims relate to efforts to get a Constitution Party candidate for South Dakota Governor on the 2010 ballot and the statutory restriction prohibiting petition-circulating by out-of-state residents. (Doc. 1). With their complaint, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 5), requesting that expedited oral argument be held and requesting that this Court compel Defendant to list a Constitution Party gubernatorial candidate on the 2010 ballot. This Court held a hearing on June 16, 2010, during which the parties sought a hearing for mid-July.

On June 30, 2010, Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings under Rule 12(c), and alternatively, for Summary Judgment under Rule 56 (Doc. 20), along with a Statement of Material Facts (Doc. 23). This Court held a second hearing July 15, 2010. For the reasons explained below, this Court grants the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and denies the relief sought by the Plaintiffs.

II. FACTS

The Constitution Party of South Dakota initially formed on March 1, 2004, when it filed a written declaration signed by at least 2.5% of the voters of the State under South Dakota Codified Laws § ("SDCL") 12-5-1. The Constitution Party in 2006 obtained the requisite number of signatures on a nominating petition to have its candidate for Governor, Steven Willis, listed on the 2006 ballot. However, Mr. Willis received less than 2.5% of the vote, resulting in the Constitution Party losing its status as a "political party" under SDCL 12-1-3(10).

Under SDCL 12-5-1, the Constitution Party once again filed to become a new party on March 19, 2008. South Dakota law requires candidates of new political parties who wish to be listed on the gubernatorial ballot to file a petition containing 250 signatures of voters registered to vote as members of the new political party. SDCL 12-5-1.4(1). This requirement differs from that imposed on gubernatorial candidates from established political parties, who must obtain signatures equal to 1% of their party membership to be listed on a ballot. SDCL 12-6-7. The Constitution Party presently has 315 registered members in South Dakota. As a consequence of its limited number of members, the 250-signature requirement for a gubernatorial candidate of the Constitution Party is equivalent to 79.4% of the party membership.

South Dakota law requires that in order for a gubernatorial candidate from a new political party to be placed on the ballot for the general election, the individual must use the petition process. SDCL 12-5-1.4(1). A petition requirement exists for gubernatorial candidates for all parties. See generally SDCL 12-6-1. South Dakota law permits party candidates for positions other than Governor and legislators to be nominated and placed on the ballot through a state convention.

South Dakota law does not permit an out-of-state resident to circulate petitions. Under SDCL 12-1-3(9), a "petition circulator" is a resident of the State of South Dakota who is at least eighteen years of age.

The deadline for filing with the Secretary of State a nominating petition for gubernatorial candidates was March 30, 2010. SDCL 12-6-4. On August 12, 2010, the Secretary of State will begin to certify the general ballot, containing the names of those legally nominated, to the county auditors, and must complete certification by August 17, 2010. SDCL 12-8-8.

No Constitution Party candidate filed a nominating petition for the office of South Dakota Governor by the deadline or at any time since the deadline of March 30, 2010. Peter Boeve, a member of the Constitution Party, circulated a petition to run for South Dakota Governor, failed to obtain the requisite 250 signatures by the March deadline, and did not file a nominating petition. Boeve declared that his efforts to obtain the 250 signatures were "extremely diligent," but that due to the "vast dispersal of the Constitution Party members," he was unable to satisfy the 250-signature requirement. Declaration of Peter Boeve, Doc. 8. Despite having the assistance of another Constitution Party member, Joy Howe, Boeve was able to collect only 85 signatures. Affidavit of Peter Boeve, Doc. 31. Plaintiff Mark Pickens, a resident of Arizona, was unable to sell or volunteer his services as a petition circulator to Boeve, because he was not a South Dakota resident. See SDCL 12-1-3(9).

Although South Dakota law does not allow a party to select a gubernatorial candidate by nomination at a convention, Plaintiff Joy Howe, another member of theConstitution Party, received the nomination of the South Dakota Constitution Party as its gubernatorial candidate at its June 19, 2010 convention. Plaintiff Marvin Meyer, another member of the Constitution Party, intends to vote for Howe for Governor if she is placed on the general ballot. Declaration of Marvin Meyer, Doc. 9. Meyer would have supported Boeve if he had not deserted his bid for Governor. Id. The Constitution Party also nominated a candidate for South Dakota Secretary of State whom Defendant will certify to be on the 2010 ballot.

Plaintiffs Constitution Party, Howe, Meyer, and Pickens have sued Defendant South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson, claiming that SDCL 12-5-1.4 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments by requiring gubernatorial candidates of new political parties to obtain 250 signatures of voters registered to vote as members of the new political party by a March deadline via a petition process. Plaintiffs also sued Defendant to challenge as unconstitutional SDCL 12-1-3(9), which disqualifies non-residents of South Dakota from circulating petitions for ballot access. The complaint seeks (1) declaratory judgment that the 250-signature requirement and ballot access laws are unconstitutional; (2) permanent injunctive relief to stop the State from implementing and enforcing the ballot access scheme; and (3) injunctive relief to place Howe on the general election ballot as the Constitution Party candidate for Governor. Plaintiffs also seek an award of attorney fees and costs associated with this action, and any other equitable relief deemed proper by this Court. At the July 15, 2010 motions hearing, this Court denied Plaintiffs' request for an order requiring Defendant to place Howe on the general election ballot. Ruling was deferred on the other requests for relief, as well as Defendant's motions for dismissal and summary judgment, until completion of briefing of those issues.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment and Preliminary Injunction Standards

"Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Anderson v. Durham D & M, L.L.C., 606 F.3d 513, 518 (8th Cir.2010) (citing Johnson v. Ready Mixed Concrete, Co., 424 F.3d 806, 810 (8th Cir.2005)); see Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). "The nonmoving party is entitled to all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the evidence, but not to inferences that may only be drawn by resorting to speculation." Culton v. Mo. Dep't. of Corr., 515 F.3d 828, 830 (8th Cir.2008) (quoting Williams v. City of Carl Junction, Mo., 480 F.3d 871, 873 (8th Cir.2007)). The nonmoving party "must present more than a scintilla of evidence and must advance specific facts to create a genuine issue of material fact for trial." Williams, 480 F.3d at 873 (quoting FDIC v. Bell, 106 F.3d 258, 263 (8th Cir.1997)).

The determination of whether a court should issue a preliminary injunction involves consideration of "(1) the threat of irreparable harm to the movant; (2) the state of balance between this harm and the injury that granting the injunction will inflict on other parties [ ]; (3) the probability that movant will succeed on the merits; and (4) the public interest." Dataphase Sys., Inc. v. C L Sys., Inc., 640 F.2d 109, 113 (8th Cir.1981).

This Court grants the motion for summary judgment, and consequently denies the motion for preliminary injunction because Plaintiffs have failed to show any likelihood of success on the merits.

B. Lack of Standing

Before addressing the merits of the Plaintiffs' complaint, this Court must determinewhether any of the Plaintiffs have standing. For a dispute to be resolved through the judicial process, or under the Article III judicial powers, the Plaintiffs must have standing. See Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). To have standing, a plaintiff invoking the judicial process must establish the following: (1) plaintiff has suffered an "injury in fact" that is "concrete and particularized" as well as "actual or imminent" rather than "conjectural or hypothetical," (2) "a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of" exists, and (3) it is "likely," not merely "speculative," that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision. Id. at 560-61, 112...