Judge rules on registering independent candidates

A federal judge in Helena recently ruled that Montana’s March deadline for registering candidates is too early for independent candidates.

U.S. District Court Judge Sam Haddon said the deadline is unconstitutional because it “imposes a significant barrier to the exercise of rights protected and guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.”

Haddon, however, left in place the state’s requirement that independent candidates must gather signatures equal to at least 5 percent of the number of voters for the same office in the last election.

The case was brought to federal court by the Montana ACLU on behalf of Steve Kelly, of Gallatin County, who wanted to run as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2008. The ACLU claimed Montana’s ballot access requirements are among the most stringent in the nation.