Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...does not have registered as members 5 percent of the total registered electors of the state." Fla.Stat. § 97.021(14) 2 Section 99.097, titled "Verification of signatures on petitions," applies also to petitions submitted by independent and minor-party candidates for state office, see Fla.Stat. §§ 99.0955 & 99.096, and petitions submitted by organizations seeking to place initiatives on the ballot....

...res 4 In a code section similar to section 99.097(4), candidates in major-party primaries who cannot afford the primary filing fees are allowed to qualify for the primary ballot by submitting petitions, which are verified at no charge. See Fla.Stat. § 99.0955 5 In fact, the Libertarian Party mistakenly believed that minor-party candidates were allowed to waive the filing fee: "Although the Florida Election code allows a waiver of the failing [sic] fee for a minor party or an independent party [...

...Even the most casual observation of the major parties' national conventions establishes that the custom and practice is to withhold selection of a vice-presidential nominee until the party's presidential candidate has been selected and has signalled his choice as running mate. The defendants have chosen to interpret § 99.0955, Florida Statutes as requiring a specific name for vice-president be supplied on the petition form....

...ermissible infringement of the constitutionally protected rights of these plaintiffs. In accordance with all of the above, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED: 1. Sections 103.111, 103.021(2) and (3), Florida Statutes, and Defendants' prior interpretation of Section 99.0955 necessitate the extension of the provisions of § 100.111(3)(b) to independent vice-presidential candidate Patrick J....

...The state of Florida provides an independent candidacy route as an "alternative to being nominated in one of the direct party primaries." Storer v. Brown, 415 U.S. 724, 733, 94 S.Ct. 1274, 1280, 39 L.Ed.2d 714 (1974). Plaintiffs simply can register as "independent candidates for office," pursuant to § 99.0955, Florida Statutes....

...candidates, minor political party candidates, and spaces for write-in candidates may be listed on the general election ballot and may compete for the same offices as the major political party candidates in compliance with the Florida Election Code. § 99.0955, Fla....

...does not have registered as members 5 percent of' the total registered electors of the state." Fla.Stat. § 97.021(14). . Section 99.097, titled “Verification of signatures on petitions,” applies also to petitions submitted by independent and minor-party candidates for state office, see Fla.Stat. §§ 99.0955 & 99.096, and petitions submitted by organizations seeking to place initiatives on the ballot....

...es. . In a code section similar to section 99.097(4), candidates in major-party primaries who cannot afford the primary filing fees are allowed to qualify for the primary ballot by submitting petitions, which are verified at no charge. See Fla.Stat. § 99.0955....

...protection violation. American Party of Texas v. White, 415 U.S. at 793-94, 94 S.Ct. at 1312-1313 . In local elections, independent candidates may be listed on the ballot by filing petitions signed by 3% of the voters in that district. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.0955 (West 1982)....

...ercent of the total number of the registered voters of the district, county, or other geographical entity represented by the office sought, as shown by the compilation by the Department of State for the last preceding general election. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.0955(2) (West 1982).

...compliance with the requirements of this code. § 100.051, Fla. Stat. (2018) (emphasis added). While the Fifth District did not consider this below, candidates may qualify for the general ballot by other methods than party nomination. See §§ 99.0955–99.096, Fla....

...-8- partisan basis,” and there is a way to achieve this goal consistently with the Florida Election Code by having the candidates for these offices appear on the general ballot without party affiliation pursuant to section 99.0955, we find that the offending language may be stricken without rendering the remainder incomplete. Accordingly, we quash the decision below and uphold the validity of the ordinance upon the severance therefrom of the language requiri...

...ndidates, minor political party candidates, and spaces for write-in candidates may be listed on the general election ballot and may compete for the same offices as the major political party candidates in compliance with the Florida Election Code. Section 99.0955, Florida Statutes (2018), provides that “[e]ach person seeking to qualify for election as a candidate with no party affiliation shall file his or her qualifying papers and pay the qualifying fee or qualify by the petition process pursuant to s....

...2d at 668. - 23 -  The majority attempts to circumvent this conflict by equating no-party affiliation candidates and minor political party candidates with nonpartisan elections. See majority op. at 7 (citing §§ 99.0955, 99.096, Fla. Stat.). But this is a serious misunderstanding of the Florida Election Code and basic election law. Sections 99.0955(1) and 99.096 allow for no-party affiliation candidates and minor political party candidates to participate in a partisan general election by a petition process as well as appear on the general election ballot alongside major party candidates nominated in the primary election....

twenty-five percent of the signatures required by section 99.0955, Fla. Stat., must be obtained. See, s.100.111(3)(c)2