Lubin v. Panish, Registrar-Recorder of County of Los Angeles

Decided March 26, 1974. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-6852 · 415 U.S. 709 (1974) · Cited 530 times

Holding

Absent reasonable alternative means of ballot access, a State may not, consistent with constitutional standards, require from an indigent candidate filing fees that he cannot pay; denying a person the right to file as a candidate solely because of an inability to pay a fixed fee, without providing any alternative means, is not reasonably necessary to the accomplishment of the State's legitimate interest of maintaining the integrity of elections.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Bullock v. Carter · 405 U.S. 134 (1972)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections · 383 U.S. 663 (1966)
• Griffin v. Illinois · 351 U.S. 12 (1956)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Wesberry v. Sanders · 376 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15 · 395 U.S. 621 (1969)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Douglas v. California · 372 U.S. 353 (1963)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Williams v. Illinois · 399 U.S. 235 (1970)
• Lindsey v. Normet · 405 U.S. 56 (1972)
• Tate v. Short · 401 U.S. 395 (1971)
• Jenness v. Fortson · 403 U.S. 431 (1971)
• Cipriano v. City of Houma · 395 U.S. 701 (1969)
• Rinaldi v. Yeager · 384 U.S. 305 (1966)
• Turner v. Fouche · 396 U.S. 346 (1970)
• Truax v. Corrigan · 257 U.S. 312 (1921)
• Rosario v. Rockefeller · 410 U.S. 752 (1973)
• Edwards v. California · 314 U.S. 160 (1941)
• Frost v. Corporation Comm'n of Okla. · 278 U.S. 515 (1929)
• James v. Strange · 407 U.S. 128 (1972)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Clements v. Fashing · 457 U.S. 957 (1982)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party · 440 U.S. 173 (1979)
• New York State Bd. of Elections v. López Torres · 552 U.S. 196 (2008)
• U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton · 514 U.S. 779 (1995)
• McDaniel v. Paty · 435 U.S. 618 (1978)
• Burdick v. Takushi · 504 U.S. 428 (1992)
• City of Mobile v. Bolden · 446 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Crawford v. Marion County Election Board · 553 U.S. 181 (2008)
• Rogers v. Lodge · 458 U.S. 613 (1982)
• Munro v. Socialist Workers Party · 479 U.S. 189 (1986)
• Dougherty County Bd. of Ed. v. White · 439 U.S. 32 (1978)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Warren Earl Burger’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1974). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).