Iowa Supreme Court affirms lower court's ruling to keep Libertarian candidates off November ballot
Source: KCCI-TV Des Moines, IA
Updated: 7:39 PM CDT (8:39 PM EDT) Sep 11, 2024
DES MOINES, Iowa — The state's highest court has affirmed a district court's ruling that will remove the names of three Libertarian Party candidates from the general election ballot this November. The high court offered a quick and final decision following Tuesday’s oral arguments, already more than a week after the deadline for state officials to certify the names of nominees before ballots can be printed.
Iowans affiliated with the Republican Party filed challenges against the three candidates, alleging that the Libertarian Party of Iowa failed to follow state law on the procedure for nominating their candidates.
In August, a three-member panel of state elected officials, comprised of two Republicans and one Democrat, ruled 2-1 in agreement with the challengers, several Republican Party officials who argued that the Libertarian Party failed to follow state law when it nominated the candidates at its party convention, which was held on the same day as precinct caucuses where the candidates were selected. State law says the term of convention delegates begins the day after the caucuses.
That means the Libertarian candidates were not nominated at valid county conventions, conservative attorney Alan Ostergren argued. Secretary of State Paul Pate and Attorney General Brenna Bird, two Republicans on the state elections panel, agreed. The lone dissent on the panel came from State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat who accused his colleagues of political bias against the Libertarian candidates.
Read more: https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-supreme-court-ruling-libertarian-candidates/62162189