Verhines

I. BACKGROUND

7 A. Summary of Plaintiff’s Complaint and the Court’s Screening Order 8 On September 19, 2024, Plaintiff filed his complaint. (ECF No. 1). He alleges as follows: 9 Plaintiff is a Fresno, California resident who wishes to run for Congress but is unable to 10 pay the filing fee equivalent to 1% of a Congressmember’s $174,000 annual salary, i.e., $1,740. 11 As the sole provider for a family of eight, including six children, with a total family income of 12 less than $55,000 per year, he is unable to afford this fee, which effectively excludes him from 13 the electoral process based on his economic status. 14 He acknowledges an alternative to paying the filing fee by collecting 2,000 signatures. 15 However, he contends that, as a full-time worker and the sole provider for his family, he does not have the time or resources to collect signatures. He states that wealthier candidates can afford to hire persons to assist in collecting signatures or pay the filing fee outright, which makes the signature alternative disproportionately burdensome for lower-income candidates. Plaintiff attempted to run for Congress in 2022 and 2024 but contends that he…