For Immediate Release
August 5, 2002
Contact Information:
Amanda Cooper, 212 998–6736
Statement of Brennan Center’s Elizabeth Daniel on Decision in Campbell vs. Bysiewicz
Today in U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut, Judge Peter C. Dorsey modified his initial order of preliminary injunction in the case of Campbell v. Bysiewicz and ordered the Secretary of the State to put any qualified applicant on the primary ballot. In addition, the Judge denied the Secretary of the State’s motion for a stay of his initial order.
“Judge Dorsey’s decision today gives Connecticut voters the kind of democratic choice that voters in almost every other state have as a matter of course. Connecticut—beginning with this election—will now have a real primary system. Two weeks ago, the Court indicated that the primary ballot access system for all state-wide offices, all congressional offices, and most state legislative offices is unconstitutional. He has now stepped in to ensure that this unconstitutional system does not continue to deny Connecticut’s citizens their right to vote specifically, their right to participate in their party’s nominating process. The Court has directed the Secretary of the State to allow any party member onto the primary ballot for a state or district office, provided the person makes a proper request and is otherwise qualified to run.
This is not just a victory for Ed Gomes, Jim Campbell, and the other plaintiffs to this case—it is a victory for all Connecticut voters.”
—Elizabeth Daniel is Associate Council at the Brennan Center for Justice and one of the countrys top ballot access litigators.
More information on Campbell v. Bysiewicz is available here.
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law unites thinkers and advocates in pursuit of a vision of inclusive and effective democracy. Our mission is to develop and implement an innovative, nonpartisan agenda of scholarship, public education, and legal action that promotes equality and human dignity, while safeguarding fundamental freedoms.