Lake Elmo, MN (February 22, 2021) -- In Minnesota’s 2020 presidential primary election, Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente and a Minnesota voter, Jim Martin, asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to print De La Fuente’s name on the March 2020 primary ballot so Martin could vote for delegates supportive of him. The request was denied based on a finding that the Republican Party of Minnesota did not choose De La Fuente as one of its candidates eligible to receive its delegates; therefore De La Fuente had no right to be on the ballot and Martin had no right to vote for him.

Bringing forward a filing of the Minnesota Republican Party identifying De La Fuente as eligible to receive its delegates (which was known to the Minnesota Supreme Court), the pair petitioned the United States Supreme Court for review. The underlying issues brought forward were: the denial of candidates chosen by a major political party to be treated equally on the ballot; and the right of Minnesota voters to be presented with a ballot that accurately identifies those candidates. Today, the United States Supreme Court denied their petition to hear their case.

“Minnesotans have a paramount constitutional entitlement to be presented with a ballot that accurately identifies the candidates participating in an election,” says Martin, “This protection was not just denied to Rocky and me; this Russian-style denial of ballot access to legitimate party-chosen candidates and the suppression of Minnesota voters who support them is becoming a permanent tear in the fabric of our republic.”