The Libertarian gubernatorial ticket in Iowa has filed a petition for judicial review in Polk County District Court, asking a judge to reverse a recent State Objection Panel decision that removed Nicholas Gluba and Jules Cutler from the general election ballot.
In a statement dated June 24, the Gluba-Cutler campaign announced that it filed the petition the previous day in response to its removal from the ballot over whether Cutler, a lieutenant governor candidate, had submitted an affidavit of candidacy by the June 2 filing deadline. The three-member panel, which consists under state law of Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate and Attorney General Brenna Bird, both Republicans, and State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, heard several challenges to the filings of Libertarian candidates earlier this month, agreeing with all but one.
The campaign is arguing that Cutler attempted to submit her affidavit when she accompanied Gluba to file paperwork with the Iowa Secretary of State’s office, but that a state employee told her the document was “not needed” and declined to accept it. “We tried to submit all of our paperwork,” Gluba said in the statement. “The state’s own employee turned part of it away. Now the state is using that as the reason to remove us from the ballot.”
The petition also argues that if Cutler’s affidavit was required at the time of filing, election officials should have rejected the nomination papers then, which would have given the campaign time to correct the issue before the deadline. Instead, the campaign says the filings were accepted and the issue was not raised until after the deadline had already passed.
The campaign is also challenging part of Iowa’s ballot access law, arguing that petition-nominated candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are effectively required to select a full ticket before collecting signatures, unlike Republican and Democratic nominees, whose lieutenant governor candidates are chosen later during their respective conventions. It states the rule puts nonparty political organizations at a “structural disadvantage in violation of constitutional guarantees of equal protection.”
The appeal comes after an earlier statement from the Libertarian Party of Iowa saying it would seek judicial review after the panel removed Gluba and Cutler, as well as Marco Battaglia, the Libertarian candidate in the 3rd Congressional District, from the ballot. The panel rejected a separate challenge to Rick Stewart, the Libertarian candidate in the 2nd Congressional District, over the name he used on his forms, with the party saying it was otherwise “pleased” by that result.
“The Libertarian Party of Iowa believes elections should be decided by voters, not by procedural challenges brought after thousands of Iowans have already demonstrated their support,” Stephanie Berlin, chair of the Libertarian Party of Iowa, said in the June 15 statement. “Our candidates followed the process, built real campaigns, and earned their place on the ballot.”
Berlin also said at the time that party volunteers had collected a “record number” of signatures, with the Gluba-Cutler ticket alone submitting more than 8,000. The national Libertarian Party also pledged to support a challenge to the panel, with Libertarian National Committee Chair Evan McMahon saying that the party would use “all available methods and resources” to defend Libertarian candidates in Iowa.
Independent Political Report has not yet located a similar court filing for Battaglia as of this article. The Gluba-Cutler campaign is requesting expedited consideration ahead of the November general election.
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