Judge upholds state panel ruling that boots Libertarian congressional candidates from Iowa’s ballots

DES MOINES — A state panel’s ruling to remove three Libertarian candidates for Congress from Iowa’s ballots in the Nov. 5 election was upheld Saturday by a judge.

In a ruling issued Saturday morning, Polk County District Court Judge Michael Huppert said the State Objections Panel operated within its authority and applied the proper legal analysis when it voted Aug. 28 to uphold objections to the Libertarians’ candidacies.

The Libertarians plan to appeal the ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court, state party chairwoman and lawyer Jules Cutler said Saturday.

The Libertarian candidates in danger of losing access to Iowa’s ballots are Nicholas Gluba in Eastern Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, Marco Battaglia in Central Iowa’s 3rd District and Charles Aldrich in Western Iowa’s 4th District.

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After no Libertarian Party candidates in Iowa ran for U.S. House in the state’s primary election in June, party officials held a special nominating convention to nominate candidates in three of the state’s four U.S. House elections.

Objections filed in mid-August with the State Objections Panel claimed the Libertarian congressional candidates are ineligible for the ballot because their state party failed to follow proper nominating procedures as outlined in state law.

The objection panel — consisting of Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate, Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird and Democratic Auditor Rob Sand — met Aug. 28 and voted 2-1 to uphold the objections and remove the Libertarians from the ballot. Pate and Bird cast the majority votes, with Sand opposed.

The Libertarians challenged the panel’s ruling in District Court, and Huppert granted their request for an injunction to stop the secretary of state from certifying ballots until the issue is resolved in the courts. Huppert heard oral arguments in the case Thursday and issued his ruling Saturday.

In that ruling, Huppert directly addressed the main arguments that were made by lawyers for the Libertarian candidates. He said the Iowans who initiated the process with their objections were qualified to go before the panel; the State Objections Panel did have the authority to hear and resolve those objections; the panel used the proper legal standard to reach its decision; and the objection process did not infringe upon the rights of the Libertarian Party of Iowa or Iowa voters.

Huppert affirmed the state panel’s ruling and dissolved his injunction.

With the injunction lifted, the Iowa Secretary of State is free to certify ballots for the Nov. 5 election, and local elections officials can begin the process of printing those ballots. But the Libertarian Party may be able to request another legal action — this time from the Iowa Supreme Court — to once again pause the printing of ballots until their legal challenge runs its full course.

The legal dispute has created a time crunch for local elections officials who must print ballots. By state law, ballots cannot be printed until after they are certified by the Iowa Secretary of State. Federal law, however, requires ballots to overseas military personnel be mailed no later than 45 days before Election Day. That deadline is roughly two weeks away, on Sept. 21.

Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts, currently represented by Republicans U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, respectively, are projected to be closely contested.

In the 1st District, which includes Johnson County, Democrat Christina Bohannan is challenging Miller-Meeks, and in the 3rd District, Democrat Lanon Baccam is challenging Nunn. National elections forecasters rate the two elections as leaning Republican or a tossup.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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