In the 2000 case of Dale G. Becker v. Betty Montgomery, Attorney General of Ohio, et al., Becker challenged an Ohio law that required candidates for judicial office to affiliate with a political party in order to appear on a general election ballot. He argued this violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights as he wished to run as an independent candidate. The Supreme Court ruled against him, upholding the constitutionality of the state's partisan primary system for electing judges. They found that requiring judicial candidates to win a party nomination did not infrally upon their constitutional rights because it served legitimate state interests such as maintaining stability within its electoral system and ensuring voters had relevant information about candidates' likely performance in office.

In the dissenting opinion for Dale G. Becker v. Betty Montgomery, et al., Justice Stevens argued that Ohio's law requiring candidates to gather signatures from at least 5% of voters in a district before they can appear on the ballot is unconstitutional because it imposes an unfair burden on third-party and independent candidates. He pointed out that this requirement does not apply to major party candidates, who are automatically placed on the ballot once they win their party's primary election. This discrepancy, he said, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by treating similarly situated individuals differently without sufficient justification. Furthermore, Justice Stevens contended that Ohio's law also infringes upon First Amendment rights by limiting political speech and association based solely on a candidate’s political affiliation.