Iowa Supreme Court will decide if Libertarian hopefuls get on congressional ballot

DES MOINES — The fate of three Libertarian Party candidates’ appearance on Iowa’s ballots in the Nov. 5 election will be determined by the Iowa Supreme Court, which will hear oral arguments in the case Tuesday.

In court documents filed over the weekend, the Iowa Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments for 10 a.m. Tuesday. Presumably, the court will issue a ruling quickly.

A deadline for local elections officials to begin printing ballots has been looming throughout the legal challenges. That deadline, which already has been delayed once, is 11:59 p.m. Wednesday under Iowa law.

Shortly after no Libertarian congressional candidates ran in the state’s primary election in June, party leaders nominated three candidates for the general election: Nicholas Gluba in Eastern Iowa’s 1st District, Marco Battaglia in Central Iowa’s 3rd District and Charles Aldrich in Western Iowa’s 4th District.

Objections to those nominations were raised by Iowa Republicans, who argued the Libertarian Party of Iowa failed to follow nominating procedures required by state law. The State Objections Panel met Aug. 28 and by a 2-1 vote upheld the objections, effectively removing the Libertarians from the ballot.

The Libertarians challenged the ruling in state court, but a Polk County District Judge upheld the ruling. The Libertarians promptly appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court.

In new court filings produced ahead of the Supreme Court arguments, lawyers for the Libertarian candidates argue that a broader reading of state law suggests the requirements for candidate nominations apply only to primary elections, not general elections.

Lawyers for the Libertarian candidates also repeated their previous arguments to the District Court judge: that the Iowans who raised the objections did not have legal standing, that the state panel exceeded its authority in ruling based on those objections, and that the panel’s ruling violates the Libertarian Party’s free speech rights.

“If the district court’s ruling is allowed to remain the law of this State, then Iowa’s elections will be decided by judges instead of voters. A system of elections which the Iowa Constitution cannot tolerate,” lawyers for the Libertarian candidates argued.

New filings from lawyers for the State Objections Panel and the Iowans who filed the objections dispute the argument that the requirements in state law apply only to primary elections and argue the District Court judge was correct to uphold the decision.

“Order in the electoral process demands that all political parties comply with the modest requirement to hold proper county conventions and identify those who can make decisions for the party,” lawyer Alan Ostergren argued in a new court filing. “The (Iowa) Legislature has a right to act with foresight to prevent the chaos that could be caused by unregulated access to the ballot.”

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 less than 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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