Filed Date: Aug. 16, 2016
Closed Date: Oct. 18, 2016
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This case involved the constitutionality of Nevada petition signature deadline requirements for minor political parties to qualify to place a candidate on the general election ballot.
On August 16, 2016, the Nevada Green Party, along with its 2016 presidential candidate and a Nevada Green Party official in her capacity as a voter, filed this suit in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada (Las Vegas) against the Secretary of State of Nevada in her official capacity, citing 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Represented by private counsel, Plaintiffs alleged that enforcement of Nevada’s statutory deadline for accepting petitions of minor political parties to place its candidates on the general election ballot unconstitutionally burdened Plaintiffs’ voting rights and their rights to free speech and free association. The case was assigned to Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey.
Nevada state law required that a minor political party which did not have a candidate receive 1% of the vote in the last election, nor was designated as the party of at least 1% of state registered voter applications by January 1 of the general election year, instead file a Minor Political Party Ballot Access Petition with the Nevada Secretary of State with valid signatures of registered voters in an amount equal to at least 1% of the voter turnout in the state’s last congressional race. In 2016, this deadline was June 3rd, and a minor political party needed at least 5,431 valid signatures to qualify to place a candidate on the general election ballot. The Nevada Green Party submitted 8,554 signatures on June 3rd, but the Secretary rejected nearly 45% of the signatures as duplicative, illegible, not belonging to a voter, or not matching the voting-record signatures, which left the Nevada Green Party 647 signatures short. The Party appealed the verification results, and while the appeal was pending submitted 1,000 more signatures for verification on August 1, 2016. The Secretary denied the signature additions as untimely, and on August 12, 2016, the Secretary denied the original appeal.
On August 16, 2016 Plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against the Secretary requesting declaratory and injunctive relief and filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and order to show cause for why a preliminary injunction should not issue. Plaintiffs sought to compel the Secretary to accept signatures past the petition deadline and to place the Nevada Green Party candidates on the ballot. Plaintiffs first argued that the state statutory language permitted the Secretary to accept signatures for minor political party petitions past the deadline, and second that the deadline and the petition signature requirement of at least 1% of the last election’s voter turnout was unduly burdensome and therefore violated Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
A trio of Nevada voters, represented by private counsel, filed a motion to intervene as Defendants on the basis that they had an interest in ensuring the integrity of Nevada’s voting system. Both the Nevada Secretary Defendant and the Nevada voter Defendant-Intervenors filed responses to Plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order on August 25, 2016. First, both Defendants argued that the relevant Nevada state law, such as Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.1715(c), used “must” language, did not give the Secretary discretion to permit the Nevada Green Party access to the ballot without fulfilling statutory requirements. Second, both Defendants argued that the petition signature deadline did not impose an unconstitutional burden on minor political party ballot access because it furthered state interests in avoiding voter confusion, was necessary to meet federal deadlines and ensure the ballots were correct and finalized in time for the election, that other minor political parties were able to meet the statutory requirements, and that the Nevada Green Party simply waited too late—2 weeks before the deadline—to start collecting signatures.
A hearing on both the temporary restraining order and the motion to intervene was held on August 29, 2016. On September 1, 2016, Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey denied Plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order and order to show cause re: preliminary injunction. Judge Dorsey found that Plaintiffs were unlikely to prevail on the merits because the Secretary was permitted no discretion to accept signatures and place the Nevada Green Party candidates on the ballot past the statutory deadline, and the Nevada ballot access provisions advanced important state interests and did not unduly burden Plaintiff’s constitutional rights. Plaintiffs and Secretary submitted a stipulation of voluntarily dismissal without prejudice, with each party bearing its own attorneys’ fees, on October 17, 2016, and the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice on October 18, 2016.
Summary Authors
Anaximander Mars (7/24/2024)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4519215/parties/nevada-green-party-v-cegavske/
Dorsey, Jennifer Anna (Nevada)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4519215/nevada-green-party-v-cegavske/
Last updated Aug. 8, 2025, 7:18 a.m.
State / Territory: Nevada
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA) project
Key Dates
Filing Date: Aug. 16, 2016
Closing Date: Oct. 18, 2016
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Nevada Green Party, Green Party presidential candidate, and a Nevada Green Party official in her capacity as a voter.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Public Interest Lawyer: Unknown
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Nevada Secretary of State, State
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Ex parte Young (federal or state officials)
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Issues
Voting: