State ex rel. Billings v. City of Point Pleasant

• Decision Date: 18 May 1995
• Docket Number: No. 22837,22837
• Parties: STATE of West Virginia ex rel. Brian BILLINGS, Relator, v. The CITY OF POINT PLEASANT, a Municipal Corporation; Marilyn McDaniel, City Clerk; Russell Holland, Mayor of the City of Point Pleasant, and All Council Members of the City of Point Pleasant, Respondents.
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court

Page 436

460 S.E.2d 436

194 W.Va. 301

STATE of West Virginia ex rel. Brian BILLINGS, Relator, v. The CITY OF POINT PLEASANT, a Municipal Corporation;

Marilyn McDaniel, City Clerk; Russell Holland, Mayor of the

City of Point Pleasant, and All Council Members of the City

of Point Pleasant, Respondents.

No. 22837.

Supreme Court of Appeals of

West Virginia.

Submitted April 5, 1995.

Decided May 18, 1995.

[194 W.Va. 302] Syllabus by the Court

1. "A writ of mandamus will not issue unless three elements coexist--(1) a clear legal right in the petitioner to the relief sought; (2) a legal duty on the part of respondent to do the thing which the petitioner seeks to compel; and (3) the absence of another adequate remedy." Syllabus Point 2, State ex rel. Kucera v. City of Wheeling, 153 W.Va. 538, 170 S.E.2d 367 (1969).

2. The West Virginia Constitution confers a fundamental right to run for public office, which the State cannot restrict unless the restriction is necessary to accomplish a legitimate and compelling governmental interest.

3. Restrictions that limit an individual's ability to select and change his or her party affiliation implicate the speech and associational freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by Sections 7 and 16 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution. Such restrictions cannot be imposed on these rights unless the restrictions are necessary to accomplish a legitimate and compelling governmental interest and there is no less restrictive means of satisfying such interest.

4. The provision in W.Va.Code, 3-5-7(b)(6) (1991), which effectively disqualifies from running for political office individuals who change their political party affiliation within sixty days of filing their announcements of candidacy, is necessary to accomplish the compelling governmental interest in preserving the integrity of the political process, promoting party stability, and avoiding voter confusion. The provision, therefore, does not violate either the fundamental right of candidacy or the right to change political party affiliations.

James M. Casey, Point Pleasant, for relator.

Barry L. Casto, Casto & Casto, Point Pleasant, for respondents.

CLECKLEY, Justice:

In this original mandamus proceeding, the relator challenges the constitutionality of W.Va.Code, 3-5-7(b)(6) (1991), which provides that a candidate for public office must file with a designated clerk a "certificate of announcement" that includes the name of the candidate's political party and a statement verifying that he or she "has not been registered as a voter affiliated with any other political party for a period of sixty days before the day of filing the announcement." The relator, Brian Billings, sought to become a candidate for the office of councilman-at-large in the City of Point Pleasant even though he changed his political party affiliation within sixty days prior to filing his certificate of announcement. The relator asserts the durational party affiliation requirement in W.Va.Code, 3-5-7(b)(6), violates his fundamental right to become a candidate for political office. Due to time constraints imposed by the impending election, we issued our decision in the form of an order on April 7, 1995. We now follow that order with this more detailed opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

The basic sequence of events does not appear to be in dispute. The respondent, City of Point Pleasant, changed the boundaries of its wards on February 13, 1995, in Prior to March, 1995, the relator was a registered Republican. In that month, he changed his affiliation to the Democratic Party and then filed his certificate of announcement to run as a Democrat for the Point Pleasant city council. The relator thus failed to comply with the sixty-day political party affiliation requirement prior to the announcement of his candidacy, as required by W.Va.Code, 3-5-7(b)(6). Michael Shaw, Chairman of the Point Pleasant City Republican Executive Committee, filed a complaint with the respondent, Marilyn McDaniel, City Clerk, seeking to remove the relator from the ballot because of his noncompliance with W.Va.Code, 3-5-7(b)(6).

[194 W.Va. 303] order to comply with the one-person/one-vote constitutional requirement. Following the boundary realignment, the Republican and Democratic nominating conventions were conducted March 17, 1995, and March 20, 1995, respectively.

Although Mr. Shaw's complaint was filed in the City Clerk's office on March 23, 1995, the Democratic chairman's office was not notified of the filing of the complaint until March 30, 1995. Action on the complaint was scheduled for March 31, 1995. In anticipation of the removal of his name from the ballot by the ballot commission, the relator petitioned this Court to issue a rule to show cause directing the respondents to appear and explain why the relator and others similarly situated should not have their names placed on the ballot for the general election on May 20, 1995. The petition challenged the constitutionality of the durational party affiliation requirement in W.Va.Code, 3-5-7(b)(6).

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard for Issuing Writs of Mandamus

The general standards for issuing a writ of mandamus have been restated many times. The traditional use of mandamus has been to confine an administrative agency or an inferior court to a lawful exercise of its prescribed jurisdiction or "to compel it to exercise its authority when it is its duty to do so." Roche v. Evaporated Milk Ass'n, 319 U.S. 21, 26, 63 S.Ct. 938, 941, 87 L.Ed. 1185, 1190 (1943); State ex rel. Frazier v. Meadows, 193 W.Va. 20, 31, 454 S.E.2d 65, 76 (1994).

Since mandamus is an "extraordinary" remedy, it should be invoked sparingly. ¹ In order to ensure that writs of mandamus are restricted to extraordinary situations, we have set forth three conditions that must be met. In Syllabus Point 2 of State ex rel. Kucera v. City of Wheeling, 153 W.Va. 538, 170 S.E.2d 367 (1969), we stated:

"A writ of mandamus will not issue unless three elements coexist--(1) a clear legal right in the petitioner to the relief sought; (2) a legal duty on the part of respondent to do the thing which the petitioner seeks to compel; and (3) the absence of another adequate remedy."

In other words, the relator here must show a clear and indisputable right to the writ and must have no other means to obtain relief. See Kerr v. United States District Court, 426 U.S. 394, 403, 96 S.Ct. 2119, 2124,

                [194 W.Va. 304] 48 L.Ed.2d 725, 733 (1976).  Once these prerequisites are met, this Court's decision whether to issue the writ is largely one of discretion. 2  In considering this petition, we do not believe the relator has shown that he has a clear and indisputable right to the issuance of a writ.  For reasons discussed below, we hold the relator has failed to demonstrate that the respondents' decision to disqualify him as a candidate lies outside the bounds of constitutional protection
                

B. Analysis ³

W.Va.Code, 3-5-7(b)(6), states, in effect, that a candidate cannot qualify to run for public office if he or she changed his or her political party affiliation during the sixty days prior to the announcement of candidacy. ⁴ In his petition, the relator asserts a writ of mandamus should be granted because the durational party affiliation requirement of W.Va.Code, 3-5-7(b)(6), violates his rights to run for political office and to change parties. ⁵ The respondents defend the statute's constitutionality and the consequent removal of the relator's name from the ballot on the ground that the law serves the compelling state interest in orderly election proceedings by preventing "party-shopping" by candidates. ⁶ According to the respondents, party-shopping We agree with the relator that the West Virginia Constitution confers a fundamental right to run for public office. This right necessarily follows from several provisions. First, Article IV guarantees a right of political participation through Section 1's extension of the franchise to all adults (except those of unsound mind or under a felony conviction) and through Section 4's use of the Section 1 voter eligibility criteria to determine eligibility for public office. We, accordingly, concluded in Marra v. Zink, 163 W.Va. 400, 403, 256 S.E.2d 581, 584 (1979), that "art. 4, § 4 is the exclusive constitutional authority for the establishment of qualifications for municipal office and any qualifications in excess of the provision cannot be created by general law under authority of W.Va.Const., art. 4, § 8 nor under the Legislature's plenary law making power." In context, this limitation means the Legislature cannot go beyond the criteria in Section 4 of Article IV unless it can satisfy a compelling state interest analysis. Sturm v. Henderson, 176 W.Va. 319, 342 S.E.2d 287 (1986), superseded by constitutional amendment as stated in Adkins v. Smith, 185 W.Va. 481, 408 S.E.2d 60 (1991).

[194 W.Va. 305] threatens to "confuse and baffle" and, perhaps, even defraud the voters of the City of Point Pleasant.

Second, a citizen's decision to run for office necessarily involves him or her in expression that lies at the very core of free speech protected by Section 7 of Article III, that is, in political speech aimed at influencing voters and shaping governmental policy. See Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780, 103 S.Ct. 1564, 75 L.Ed.2d 547 (1983); Garcelon v. Rutledge, 173 W.Va. 572, 318 S.E.2d 622 (1984). Even candidates who lose often make valuable contributions to the political process by introducing new ideas, exposing shortcomings in government, providing an outlet for intense feelings held by certain constituencies, highlighting previously understated issues, or pushing the other candidates one way or another on the political spectrum.

Third, candidates' rights are necessarily tied to voters' rights. Clearly, "[t]he right to vote freely for the candidate of one's choice is of the essence of a democratic society,...