Case 1:20-cv-03325-AT Document 43 Filed 05/05/20 Page 20 of 30 only the text of the statute itself, not its application to the particular circumstances of an individual. An ‘as-applied challenge,’ on the other hand, requires an analysis of the facts of a particular case to determine whether the application of a statute, even one constitutional on its face, deprived the individual to whom it was applied of a protected right.” (citations omitted)). As the statute was applied here, however, it upended the candidates’ settled expectation that they would stay on the ballot; after all, when Yang and the other contenders suspended their campaigns, there was no threat that doing so would bar them from competing for delegates. Compl. ¶ 69; Yang Aff. ¶¶ 6, 12. Thus, the question presented is what burden was imposed on Plaintiffs’ and Plaintiff-Intervenors’ associational rights as candidates, and as voters, when (1) the Democratic Commissioners removed ten presidential candidates from the primary ballot, (2) they did so based on a statute enacted after a number of contenders had already announced that although they were suspending their campaigns, they intended to stay on the ballot, and (3) prior rules and practice would have permitted their names to remain on the roster of primary candidates. Defendants argue that the burden on Plaintiffs’ and Plaintiff-Intervenors’ rights is minimal, because “[t]he interest in question is that of a former candidate who is no longer seeking or campaigning for a nomination to have his name on the ballot in a party primary election,” and that of his or her pledged delegates. Def. Opp. at 14. At first glance, it may be difficult to see what interest candidates or voters have in participating in an election where only one politician is actively pursuing the office at stake, with the stated support of every other candidate; after all, the function of the election process is “to winnow out and finally reject all but the chosen candidates, not to provide a means of giving vent to short-range political goals, 20