lost subsequent legal challenges to gain ballot access

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the New Mexico Forward Party’s appeal to have its two statewide candidates appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

In a Thursday filing with no further comment, Justice Neil Gorsuch denied the minor political party’s appeal of lower court rulings that prevented party Chair Bob Perls and candidate Michael Vigil from appearing as candidates for the U.S. Senate and Office of the State Auditor, respectively.

The party’s attorneys sought help from the nation’s highest court on Tuesday after the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a U.S. District Court judge’s decision not to have Perls’ and Vigil’s names printed on the ballot.

Attorneys for the candidates had argued in court that they faced overly burdensome requirements to make the ballot as minor party candidates. They failed to collect the more than 14,000 signatures required to run under the nascent centrist party’s banner, while Democrat and Republican candidates are only required to gather about 2,500 and 2,350 signatures.

However, attorneys for New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver in a Thursday Supreme Court filing countered that much of the pressure facing New Mexico Forward Party candidates was self-imposed.

“NMFP formed a few months ago in May. It could have formed at any time — its national party affiliate has existed since 2022 — but it chose to do so halfway through an election year,” they wrote. “Three of its candidates were able to get on the ballot, while two were not. Mr. Perls and Mr. Vigil were unable to convince enough voters to sign their petitions for statewide office. They have resorted to the courts to get on the ballot anyway.”

The Secretary of State’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Perls in a statement noted that the federal, appellate and Supreme Court decisions have focused only on his motion to get on the November ballot and not on his broader lawsuit challenging the state’s ballot access requirements.

“After months of litigation and thousands of dollars and man-hours spent, we are back to square one with a court case in U.S. District Court to be heard in the coming months,” he said. “But we heard loud and clear from tens of thousands of New Mexicans who talked to our volunteers and our candidates and signed our petitions that they want more and better options at the voting booth going forward.”