The DNC and/or state orgs should change their rules

[Gothmog]

34. Re-read my post-there are two sets of rules (i) ballot access laws and (ii) state/DNC rules

The state party under the First Amendment (freedom of association) has the right to determine who are members of the party and has the right to limit candidates access to the ballot if they want. The same analysis that doomed the ill-conceived and rather stupid DNC fraud lawsuit applies to other party rules. The party has an associational right to determine who is eligible to represent the party just as the Boy Scouts of America (the "BSA) had the right to limit membership under the Dale case (this is a SCOTUS case that held that the BSA could deny membership and leadership roles to members of the LGBT community). It took years of hard work in the real world to get the BSA to change these rules.

Here is another example. I am a precinct chair (this is an elected leadership role in the party) and under party rules I can be removed if I vote in the GOP primary. I have the legal right to vote in either primary under Texas law but the party has the right to remove me as a leader of the party if I vote in the GOP primary. While it is possible under party rules to restrict access to the ballot, I think that changes to the ballot access state laws are more likely.

The more likely action that will be taken will be changes to the ballot access laws or statutes adopted by state governments in blue states such as New York and Maryland that will limit ballot access as a matter of state law to candidates who have released tax returns. California passed such a bill but it was vetoed by Gov. Brown. Other blue states will likely adopt such ballot access laws. You may want to read the article cited in the prior posts and I could provide you links to some discussions on the legal blogs on this topic. Trump will no doubt challenge these ballot access laws and it would be a horrible example for anyone running for the Democratic nomination to support trump in this litigation. The Texas legislature will not be adopting these rules but more than one blue state will likely adopt such a ballot access law. If Governor Brown retires before the 2020 cycle, I suspect that California will consider passing such a law again.

There is actually a couple of treatises on ballot access law and one of the authors of one of these treatises was part of the Victory Counsel program (the Clinton legal team). These are legal issues and I am surprised that a member of the bar is not familiar with these concepts.