John Rust v. Diego Morales, Indiana Secretary of State, et al.

Indiana Code section 3-8-2-7(a)(4) (the “Affiliation Statute”) requires that, in order to run in a primary election as a Republican or Democrat, a candidate: 1) must have voted in the primary for the party they wish to run for in the last two primary elections in which the candidate voted; or 2) must obtain a written certification of party membership from their county party chair. Neither membership nor certification are defined by Indiana law. Indiana primaries are not closed. The question presented is: Whether the Affiliation Statute violates Indiana citizens’ right to freely associate with the political party of their choosing pursuant to the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.