Suessmann v. Lamone, 383 Md. 697

Summary

The Maryland Court of Appeals addressed a constitutional challenge to the exclusion of unaffiliated voters from Democratic and Republican primary elections for circuit court judicial candidates. The court held that unaffiliated registered voters had statutory standing under Maryland Election Law § 12-202, but denied election-related relief because the appellants failed to show that the challenged exclusion may have changed the election outcomes. The court also explained the demanding evidentiary standard applicable to challenges seeking to overturn completed election results.

Holdings

1. Any lawful registered voter, including an unaffiliated voter, has statutory standing to seek relief under § 12-202(a); the statute does not require registration with the political party conducting the primary.
2. A party challenging an election under § 12-202 must prove by clear and convincing evidence a substantial probability that the election outcome would have been different but for the unlawful act or omission.
3. The plaintiffs failed to satisfy § 12-202(a)(2) because they offered only speculation that unaffiliated voters would have voted for different candidates or in sufficient numbers to change the primary results.
4. Maryland's judicial primary elections for circuit court judges are partisan elections in form and substance, notwithstanding statutory features designed to reduce partisanship in judicial candidacies.
5. Unaffiliated voters have no fundamental constitutional right to vote in the primary election of a political party to which they do not belong.

Questions Presented

1. Whether unaffiliated registered voters qualify as registered voters with statutory standing under Maryland Election Law § 12-202(a) to challenge an election-related act or omission.
2. What showing is required under Maryland Election Law § 12-202(a)(2) to establish that an unlawful act or omission may have changed or has changed an election outcome.
3. Whether the plaintiffs established the required probability that excluding unaffiliated voters changed or may have changed the March 2, 2004 judicial primary outcomes.
4. Whether Maryland's judicial primary election system is nonpartisan or partisan for purposes of determining whether unaffiliated voters have a constitutional right to participate.
5. Whether excluding unaffiliated voters from party primaries for circuit court judicial candidates violates the Fourteenth Amendment, Articles 7 and 24 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, or 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Disposition

affirmed