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Validation Procedures and the Burden of Ballot Access Regulations |
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Robert Yablon [View as PDF]
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115 Yale L.J. 1833 (2006)
Despite the prominent role they play in election contests, validation mechanisms have largely escaped judicial and scholarly scrutiny. This Comment urges courts to assess the constitutionality of a state's ballot access scheme in light of how the state evaluates and certifies a candidate's nomination materials. As Part I explains, Nader v. Keith, a Seventh Circuit decision authored by Judge Posner, takes some tentative steps in the right direction. Part II builds on Judge Posner's analysis to suggest that ballot access doctrine obliges courts to be sensitive to the difficulties validation mechanisms can create. Part III then explains why giving partisan actors a central role in challenging an opponent's nomination filings may present special constitutional problems because private challenges can be a potent way to limit the political participation of disfavored candidates.
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