WESTERMANN Et Al. v. NELSON, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF ARIZONA

Background

A group of candidates from the American Independent Party sued because they could not get onto Arizona’s ballot for the November 7, 1972 election. Their complaint was dismissed in the federal District Court. They sought a preliminary injunction from the Court of Appeals but were denied, and then applied to the Circuit Justice for emergency relief. Meanwhile Arizona’s election machine was already printing ballots. Absentee ballots had been sent out and some had even been returned.

Reasoning

The question was whether to order an emergency fix that would add the candidates to already printed ballots. The Circuit Justice reviewed only the papers; there was no oral argument. He said the complaint might have legal merit, but the request came too late. Reprinting all ballots would be expensive and could disrupt voting. There was also a real chance an appeals court could not decide the merits in time to change the ballots even if the candidates ultimately lost. For fairness and to avoid chaos in the election process, he concluded he must refuse the late injunction.

Real world impact

Because the emergency request was denied, the affected candidates were likely to remain off the November ballot. Voters who already received absentee ballots would not have those choices added. The decision resolves only this last-minute request; it does not decide the underlying legal claim on the merits and so the legal dispute could be considered later outside the emergency election timetable.