Posted at Ballot Access News
No federal court has ever struck down any state’s law, on how a party remains on the ballot. However, the Arkansas Green Party, and the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party, are in an excellent position to file such lawsuits and win them.
The Arkansas Green Party polled 21% for U.S. Senate on November 4, and it elected a state legislator, Richard Carroll. It had nominees in three of the four U.S. House districts, and they polled 23%, 22%, and 14%. Yet Arkansas will disqualify the party, since Arkansas only looks at the vote for President or Governor (depending on whether which office is up). It is absurd for a state to say a party that achieved what the Green Party did in 2008, does not have enough voter support to justify being on the ballot in the next election.
In Pennsylvania, the Libertarian Party polled enough votes for some of the statewide state offices to meet the state’s definition of “party”. But it is treated as though it weren’t a qualified party, because it has registration of less than 15% of the state total. No party has ever directly challenged the 15% registration test. However, in the 3rd circuit opinion Rogers v Cortes, one of the three judges expressed doubt that the 15% registration test is constitutional. The other two judges did not express anything about that. The 15% registration test is so severe, if it existed in Massachusetts and D.C., the Republicans would not be on the ballot; and if it existed in Utah, the Democrats would not be on.
The GP and LP need to challenge these…