State ex rel. Coker-Garcia v. Blunt, COKER-GARCI

• Decision Date: 19 January 1993
• Docket Number: No. WD46977,COKER-GARCI,J
• Citation: State ex rel. Coker-Garcia v. Blunt, 849 S.W.2d 81 (Mo. App. 1993)
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, ex rel., Lauraoan Dow, Harry Lee Moffett, Anthony Garcia, Phil Horras and the National Libertarian Party, Appellants, v. The Honorable Roy D. BLUNT, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 81

849 S.W.2d 81

STATE of Missouri, ex rel., Laura COKER-GARCIA, Joan Dow Harry Lee Moffett, Anthony Garcia, Phil Horras and the National Libertarian Party, Appellants, v. The Honorable Roy D. BLUNT, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Respondent.

No. WD46977.

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.

Jan. 19, 1993.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to

Supreme Court Denied

March 2, 1993.

Application to Transfer Denied April 20, 1993.

Mitchell J. Moore, Columbia, Paul R. Lamoree, Kansas City, for appellants.

William L. Webster, Atty. Gen., Simon B. Buckner, Deborah Ground Buckner, Asst. Attys. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.

Before LOWENSTEIN, C.J., and SHANGLER, TURNAGE, KENNEDY, BERREY, FENNER, ULRICH, BRECKENRIDGE, HANNA, SPINDEN and SMART, JJ.

LOWENSTEIN, Chief Judge.

This case involves an interpretation of Missouri election laws as contained in Chapter 115 RSMo 1986, and comes to this writer after reassignment. The suit involves an appeal from the total denial by the trial court of a petition for writ of mandamus against the Missouri Secretary of State, the respondent. It was filed by several candidates and the Libertarian Party for inclusion of candidates on the ballot for the general election held November 3, 1992. The Libertarian party and the others involved, filed this appeal in our Supreme Court, which transferred it to this court on October 16. This court expedited the matter so that argument and submission of the case occurred Thursday, the 29th of October. Due to the proximity of the election, the panel hearing the argument gave a decision from the bench. The panel affirmed the three issues which had been presented, the Libertarian candidates were not on the ballot. This matter was then transferred to the court en banc and this opinion followed.

This appeal addressed three issues: 1) whether a new party which obtains the requisite number of petition signatures to be certified as a party for the entire state has to show an additional modicum of local support for its local, county or district candidates, 2) whether a new party candidate for state representative who files a declaration of candidacy in a district other than that of his residence and the formation petition also lists an incorrect district number, may he later be put on the ballot in the actual district of residence, and 3) whether a party may replace a candidate who dies within the statutorily allowed replacement period but who had not filed a statutorily required declaration of candidacy form.

By far the most difficult issue for this court to address is the first mentioned: do local or district candidates of a newly certified state-wide party have to show a modicum of local support under Missouri's statutory scheme for certifying new parties? The appellants, Laura Coker-Garcia and Anthony Garcia, were, respectively, the Libertarian candidates for sheriff and assessor of Boone County.

The law as contained in § 115.315, RSMo 1986 is pertinent:

115.315. New political party, how formed.--1. Any group of persons desiring to form a new political party throughout the state, or for any congressional district, state senate district, state representative district or circuit judge district, shall file a petition with the secretary of state. Any group of persons desiring to form a new party for any county shall file a petition with the election authority of the county.

* * * * * *

4. If the new party is to be formed for the entire state, the petition shall be signed by the number of registered voters in each of the several congressional districts which is equal to at least one percent of the total number of votes cast in the district for governor in the last gubernatorial election, or by the number of registered voters in each of one-half of the several congressional districts which is equal to at least two percent of the total number of votes cast in the district for governor at the last gubernatorial election.

5. If the new party is to be formed for any district or county, the petition shall be signed by the number of registered voters in the district or county which is equal to at least two percent of the total number of voters who voted at the last election for candidates for the office being sought.

Under subsection 4, the Libertarian Party obtained adequate signatures on petitions for the Secretary of State to certify it as a state-wide party for the 1992 election. The party submitted to the Secretary of State the requisite number of signers in five of Missouri's nine congressional districts. Those district boundaries are shown in the Appendix to the majority opinion. The respondent made a determination the Party had indeed satisfied subsection 4 and put on the ballot the state-wide candidates of the Libertarian Party (governor, etc.) and the names of those local candidates whose districts included the congressional districts from which the Libertarian had gathered petitions. In effect, the Secretary of State held the local candidates in the areas where petition signatures had not been sought or obtained, would have to be examined to determine whether they should be on the ballot. ¹The circuit court judgment reviewed here stated: "Section 115.315.4 requires a candidate who is running throughout the state to demonstrate that he has support throughout the state. To that end, the statute calls for candidates for statewide office to obtain a number of signatures from all the state's congressional districts, or a larger number of signatures from half of the districts". In quoting from language in Libertarian Party v. Bond, 764 F.2d 538 (8th Cir.1985), the circuit court said the requirements of subsection 4 " 'further the states' important interests in protecting the integrity of the political processes from frivolous ... candidacies, in insuring that their election processes are efficient, in avoiding voter confusion caused by an overcrowded ballot, and in avoiding the expense and burden of run-off elections" '.

The Libertarian effort to gather signatures under subsection 4 did not include the ninth congressional district of which Boone County is a part. At the heart of this appeal is the following language from the judgment. "Section 115.315.5 is the corresponding section that requires candidates for county and district offices to demonstrate a 'significant modicum' of support in the relevant political jurisdiction. The law requires a candidate for Boone County office to demonstrate some level of support in Boone County. Relators' (appellants) interpretation of the law would allow a new political party to obtain signatures equal to two percent of votes cast in the district for governor in the last gubernatorial election in one-half of the congressional districts in the state--in St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield--and then run candidates for county office in the remaining congressional districts with no prior showing of support in those counties. Section 115.315.5, as construed by the Secretary of State, does not constitute an undue burden upon the rights of candidates or voters".

The Court overrules the decision and the underlying legal rationale requiring local candidates of a newly formed statewide political party to demonstrate additional local support through petition signatures. The judgment contradicts the Constitution in the area of political party formation and does not withstand a reasonable interpretation of § 115.315.

There is no reason for this court to defer to the Secretary of State's interpretation of the statutes governing new political parties. That interpretation restricts the firmly imbedded constitutional right of citizens to organize new political parties and stifles the interplay of political ideas which emanate from new political parties.

"For more than two decades, this Court has recognized the constitutional right of citizens to create and develop new political parties. The right derives from the First and Fourteenth Amendments and advances the constitutional interest of like minded voters to gather in pursuit of common political ends, thus enlarging the opportunities of all voters to express their own political preferences. See Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780, 793-94 [103 S.Ct. 1564, 1572, 75 L.Ed.2d 547] (1983); Illinois State Bd. of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party, 440 U.S. 173, 184 [99 S.Ct. 983, 990, 59 L.Ed.2d 230] (1979); Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23 [89 S.Ct. 5, 21 L.Ed.2d 24] (1968). To the degree that a State would thwart this interest by limiting the access of new parties to the ballot, we have called for the demonstration of a corresponding interest sufficiently weighty to justify the limitation, see Anderson, 460 U.S. at 789 [103 S.Ct. at 1570], and we have accordingly required any severe restriction to be narrowly draw to advance a state interest of compelling importance."

Norman v. Reed, 502 U.S. 279, ----, 112 S.Ct. 698, 705, 116 L.Ed.2d 711 (1992) (footnotes omitted).

Because state ballot restrictions endanger vital individual constitutional rights, "a State must establish that its classification is necessary to serve a compelling interest." Illinois State Bd. of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party, 440 U.S. 173, 184, 99 S.Ct. 983, 990, 59 L.Ed.2d 230 (1979). The state has a legitimate interest in regulating the number of candidates on the ballot. The state can weed out the candidates who lack serious interest to avoid plurality results, Id. at 185, 99 S.Ct. at 990, by requiring "a significant modicum of support", said the United States Supreme Court at pages 185-86 of Socialist Workers:

"we have required that States adopt the least drastic means to achieve their ends ... The State's interest in screening out frivolous candidates must be considered in light of the significant role that third parties have played in the political development of the Nation ... an election campaign is a means of disseminating ideas as well as attaining...