The U.S. District Courthouse in Baltimore. File photo by Danielle E. Gaines.
A lawsuit by a would-be independent U.S. Senate candidate has been dismissed by a federal judge.
Emmanuel Osuchukwu, a Baltimore County resident, filed suit in August in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. He asked a judge to invalidate the state law that requires him to collect the signatures of 10,000 registered Maryland voters in order to be placed on the November ballot.
U.S. District Court Judge James K. Bredar, in an Aug. 26 order, dismissed the lawsuit citing a lack of jurisdiction.
Osuchukwu formally declared his intent to run as an independent candidate with the state board in June 2023.
In Maryland, there are four ways to become a candidate for political office: winning a party primary; being nominated by officials of party that is not the Democratic nor Republican parties; collecting signatures from 10,000 registered Maryland voters, or 1% of the number of the registered voters eligible to cast a ballot for the office being sought; or filing a certificate of candidacy as a write-in candidate.
Osuchukwu said many voters he spoke with declined to sign his petition because of “the reasonable fear of identity theft.” The signature requirement created an undue burden and violated his constitutional rights, he argued in a filing.
In his lawsuit, Osuchukwu asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the Maryland State Board of Elections that would have prevented the creation of a finalized ballot until the court ruled. He also asked for an expedited hearing.
An attorney representing the board asked Bredar to summarily dismiss the lawsuit.
Bredar dismissed all three motions saying that the court lacked jurisdiction because the state agency had not consented to being sued. In dismissing the lawsuit, Bredar hinted in a footnote that Osuchukwu would not have prevailed had the case gone forward.
Bredar noted a similar case challenging signature requirements in North Carolina was “on point” with Osuchukwu’s lawsuit. In 2020, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court that found signature requirements for write-in and independent candidates were not unduly burdensome and not a violation of constitutional rights.