Bost v. Illinois Bd. of Elections · ¶55

For today's standing purposes, the key realization is that, in a democracy, the (existential) interest in fair and accurate elections is common to all members of the voting public. I acknowledge that “[t]hose who spend untold time and resources seeking to claim the right to voice the will of the people,” ibid.—candidates—have a particularized interest in getting the job. That is precisely why candidates do have Article III standing if an unlawful election rule creates a substantial risk of harm to that interest (the risk of an election loss). But when what is at stake is the overall fairness of the electoral process, it is the people's shared interest in democracy itself (and not just the candidate's job prospects) that hangs in the balance.

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