Person v. New York State Board of Elections

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Person v. New York State Board of Elections is a 2006 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second District. In its ruling, the Second Circuit upheld certain provisions of New York's election laws in the face of a lawsuit filed by Green Party candidate Carl Person, who sought to enjoin the enforcement of certain provisions of the law. Person had been a candidate for Attorney General of New York.

The District Court denied Person's application for an injunction, and he subsequently appealed, ultimately unsuccessfully, to the Second Circuit.

Person challenged a provision of the law that prohibits payment to petition circulators based on the number of signatures they collect. Person argued that the prohibition of per-signature payment violated U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Meyer v. Grant. However, the Second Circuit joined the Eighth and Ninth Circuits in holding that "that a state law prohibiting the payment of electoral petition signature gatherers on a per-signature basis does not per se violate the First or Fourteenth Amendments."

Precedents mentioned in the case

• People ex rel Beckerman v. Doe

External links

• Copy of decision
• Election law provisions upheld