Bost v. Illinois Bd. of Elections · ¶50

Today's decision all but ignores the particularity requirement and the democracy-preserving function that it serves. This case, the Court says, involves “[a]n unlawful election rule,” which necessarily injures candidates' “interest in a fair process.” Ante, at 77. But, even assuming that Illinois's rule is unlawful (as we must for standing purposes), the Court makes no real attempt to explain how that injury is particular to candidates; to the contrary, it acknowledges that voters, too, have a stake in a fair electoral process. See ante, at 78. Yet the Court insists that a candidate's interest is “undeniably different” from that of a voter's, because it is the candidate—and not the voter—who “compete[s]” in an election. Ibid.

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