# Bullock v. Carter **Status: stub — expand.** **405 U.S. 134 (1972).** The Court struck a Texas primary filing-fee system that charged a flat fee plus each candidate's pro rata share of the cost of running the election — assessments reaching **$8,900** — with no alternative route to the ballot. Conditioning candidacy entirely on ability to pay violated the Equal Protection Clause. Paired with [[Lubin v. Panish]] two years later, this is the reason nearly every state that charges a candidate filing fee also publishes a petition number beside it. The practical effect was not to lower the barrier but to relocate it, from money to signatures — stage 3 of [[How a Candidate Gets on the Ballot]].