Resource: Hawkins v. Ziriax

Green Party nominee for President and registered voters in the State of Oklahoma brought an action against the Oklahoma State Election Board seeking: (i) a declaratory judgment that certain Oklahoma statutes (Okla. Stat. tit. 26 Sec. 5-112 and 10-101.1) (the "Oklahoma Election Statutes") are unconstitutional in that they violate plaintiffs' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and (ii) injunctive relief prohibiting enforcement of the Oklahoma Election Statutes. Specifically, plaintiffs alleged that the Oklahoma Election Statutes are unlawful, discriminatory, unequal, and capricious in the context of Presidential candidates who are nominees of political parties not recognized in the State of Oklahoma (e.g., the Green Party) and who are seeking inclusion on the general election ballot because the statutes: (a) require candidates of unrecognized parties to comply with a petition signature deadline far in advance of the deadlines for recognized political parties and require an onerous threshold number of signatories, which are exacerbated by Oklahoma’s ban on write-on voting and COVID and (b) provide an alternative means of appearing on the ballot by paying a filing fee of $35,000, which is far greater than the $2,000 filing fee required for non-presidential statewide federal offices.