TLRC position
Support
2023 · Elections
Allows a candidate removed from a party's ballot to run as an independent.
HB 0636 / SB 0598
Bill description
Election Laws - As introduced, allows a person who is excluded as a candidate from a primary ballot based on a determination that the person is not a bona fide member of the political party to qualify as an independent candidate if the nominating petition is filed within seven calendar days of the final determination of the exclusion.
Election Laws - As introduced, allows a person who is excluded as a candidate from a primary ballot based on a determination that the person is not a bona fide member of the political party to qualify as an independent candidate if the nominating petition is filed within seven calendar days of the final determination of the exclusion.
Bill sponsors
TLRC statement
Under current law, if the filing deadline has passed for a candidate and the party kicks you off the ballot, the candidate is done! This gives the party a lot of power.
HB 636 would allow a person who is excluded as a candidate from a primary ballot based on a determination that the person is not a bonafide member of the political party to qualify as an independent candidate in the subsequent general election.
This change would allow someone who has been removed from a party ballot to immediately file as an independent. Maybe this incentivizes the party to STOP kicking people off the ballot.
The topic is debatable and has not really been addressed by the courts. But in a representative system of government, it would stand to reason that a citizen has a constitutionally secured right to run for office. That is the only way to sustain a representative form of government, for the people, by the people. Consequently, we should work to limit the antics of party politics.