The challenged law is summarized well in the opening paragraph of the
First Circuit's opinion yesterday in Perez-Guzman v.
Gracia:
In Puerto Rico, organizations that
seek to be recognized as political parties must gather roughly 100,000
endorsing petitions, each signed by a registered voter and sworn to
before a notary public. Since only a lawyer can become a notary in Puerto
Rico, there are fewer than 8,000 notaries in the entire commonwealth --
and notarial services do not come cheap.
The First Circuit struck down the notarization requirement.
Warning: those who are not fans of Judge Selya's distinctive style
should be forewarned that he wrote the opinion, which can be viewed at
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/1st/031621.html.
J. J. Gass
Associate Counsel, Democracy Program
212-998-6281
jj.gass@nyu.edu
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Floor
fax 212-995-4550
www.brennancenter.org