by Mark Hollis

TALLAHASSEE -State Rep. Willie Logan, trying to add energy to his low-profile campaign for the U.S. Senate, alleged in a lawsuit Friday that a state elections law is biased because it gives Democrat and Republican candidates the top spots on general-election ballots.

Logan, a Democrat from Opa-locka who is running without party affiliation, said the law that deals
with ballot placement conflicts with a constitutional amendment voters approved in 1998 that says the two major parties should not get special treatment.

In bringing a case to the state Supreme Court on Friday and to a federal court in Miami next
week, Logan hopes to improve the odds of electing candidates who run under minor party labels or as independents.

"This is more important than just this Senate race," Logan said. "This has to do with the will of the people and fairness."

Logan cited studies showing that the placement of candidates' names on a ballot can alter the
results of an election anywhere from 3 percent to 8 percent.

On Tuesday, three Democrats and two Republicans will square off in the primary elections for
the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Connie Mack.  The winners face Logan and an-
other "no party affiliate" candidate, two minor party contenders and five write in candidates in the November general election.

Logan suggests that the court require county supervisors of elections to list candidates alphabetically, which is the way it works in primary and runoff elections.  He says an alphabetical listing would be a "logical and fair" temporary fix for this year, but the Legislature or courts should craft a permanent remedy.  

If officials were to list the U.S. Senate candidates alphabetically, Logan would move up from third
place to the second spot among likely U.S. Senate contenders.  Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Bill McCollum, the major party front-runners, would be pushed down to the middle of
the pack.

A Florida law that has been on the books for at least two decades reads that in statewide races in the general election, it is the candidate from the Democratic or Republican parties who received the most votes in the last governor's race that gets top placement on the ballot.

Because Republican Jeb Bush won the last gubernatorial election in 1998, the GOP primary
winner gets top placement. Below that candidate's name will appear the Democratic primary
winner, followed by minor party candidates, no-party-affiliate contenders, like Logan, and finally, a
blank space to enter a write in candidate.