TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ A judge has upheld a party loyalty oath provision in Florida's new election law. Circuit Judge James Shelfer on Thursday rejected a challenge from former Public Service Commissioner Nancy Argenziano. The law is preventing Argenziano, who also once was a Republican state senator, from running for Congress as a Democrat.
Candidates must swear they have not been members of another party for 365 days before they qualify in June. That makes it too late for her to switch from the Independent Party, which she joined after quitting the GOP.
Shelfer ruled running for office is not a fundamental constitutional right.
Other parts of the law are being challenged in courts in Florida and Washington, D.C. They include new restrictions on voter registration drives and a reduction in early voting days.
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