From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
On March 20, the Republican National Committee asked a U.S. District Court to intervene in Libertarian Party of New Hampshire v Gardner, 1:!4cv-322. The issue in the lawsuit is the 2013 change to the New Hampshire election law that it made it illegal for a newly-qualifying party to circulate a party petition during an odd year.
The Republican National Committee’s motion says, “This lawsuit challenges a recent New Hampshire amendment to its election laws regarding ballot access by political organizations. The RNC proposes to intervene for the purpose of defending constitutionality of that amendment (sic)…The Republican Party has qualified for access to the New Hampshire general election ballot in 2016. Accordingly, it has a vital interest in New Hampshire’s election regulation in general and, specifically, the requirements for ballot access…the defendant (the Secretary of State) cannot adequately represent the RNC’s interests in this litigation.”
As far as is known, this is the first time any major party national committee has intervened in a constitutional ballot access lawsuit at a time remote from a presidential general election. The Democratic National Committee intervened in some lawsuits involving independent presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy in 1976, John B. Anderson in 1980, and Ralph Nader in 2004. But those interventions were on how certain ballot access laws should be interpreted, not over their constitutionality.
This action is a clue that the Republican National Committee will be seeking to intervene in court in many states during 2016 to try to prevent the Libertarian Party, and possibly other minor parties or independent candidates, from getting on the ballot. It also might be connected to the actions of Republican legislators in South Dakota and Arizona, who during March have solidly voted in favor of bills making ballot access laws for minor parties more difficult.
As their desparation to keep their hold on power from slipping further grows, the wounded elephants’ frantic charging and threshing about becomes increasingly violent.
Republican Fascism on the march. The Republican Party desperately seeks to warp election laws across the United States to preserve its feeble grip on power.
The war against fair ballot access in this country would make a good documentary.
The Republican Party has really been on a real jihad against fair ballot access for the last few years, and it seems that their primary target is the Libertarian Party.