A Colorado judge has ordered that Libertarian Sean Vadney be placed on the ballot for secretary of state, ruling that he substantially complied with state election law after the party’s original nominee withdrew one day too late for the party to replace him under the normal deadline.
Judge Adam Espinosa of the Denver District Court granted Vadney’s petition Friday, ordering Secretary of State Jena Griswold to promptly place him on the general election ballot. Vadney filed the case on September 1 after the Secretary of State’s office rejected paperwork naming him as the Libertarian Party of Colorado’s replacement nominee. He was represented by Nicholas Sarwark, a former chair of the Libertarian National Committee and state party member, whom the party said was providing legal services pro bono.
Astley and Vadney first competed for the Libertarian nomination at the state party’s April convention in Aurora, where both received at least 30 percent of the delegate vote, qualifying them for the primary ballot. Astley, a professional engineer who works for a rural electric cooperative, went on to defeat Vadney by a margin of 2,204 votes to 1,357 in the June 30 primary, capturing just under 62 percent of the vote.
Astley later withdrew from the race on August 26, 69 days before the general election and one day after the statutory cutoff for the party to replace him. The Libertarian Party of Colorado convened its Vacancy Committee three days later and selected Vadney to replace him, then submitted the necessary paperwork to the state on August 31.
However, election officials rejected the filing on the grounds that Astley’s withdrawal had occurred outside that 70-day window provided under state law. Colorado law allows minor parties to fill vacancies caused by a nominee’s “declination, death, disqualification, or withdrawal,” but only if the vacancy occurs no later than 70 days before a general election. The replacement candidate’s designation and acceptance must then be submitted no later than 64 days before the election.
“This is an unfair election law that favors the major political parties by allowing them more time to fill candidate vacancies,” the party said in a statement earlier this week. “The law guarantees that there can always be a major party candidate on the ballot. If a candidate for a minor party withdraws later than 70 days prior to the election, there is no candidate on the ballot for the minor party.”
At the heart of Vadney’s case was whether that 70-day requirement had to be followed strictly or whether he could qualify under another provision of Colorado election law requiring only “substantial compliance” with the election code. According to Espinosa’s order, the Secretary of State’s office argued that numerical and timing requirements are generally enforced strictly absent a court order, pointing to an earlier Colorado Supreme Court ruling involving minimum petition signatures. The state conceded, however, that Vadney met the substantial compliance standard if the court determined it applied in his case.
Espinosa ultimately sided with Vadney, finding that the vacancy deadline is more of a timing requirement than a basic qualification a candidate must meet to appear on the ballot. Unlike a minimum signature requirement, which functions as a way to determine whether a candidate has shown enough support to qualify, Espinosa found that the 70-day rule primarily exists to give election officials enough time to process a replacement candidate and prepare the ballot. He also noted that the missed deadline resulted from Astley’s withdrawal, not a lack of diligence by Vadney, and that nothing showed the one-day delay would interfere with the Secretary of State’s ability to prepare the ballot if the court issued a timely order.
Vadney is now expected to appear on the November ballot alongside Democratic nominee Amanda Gonzalez, American Constitution Party candidate Amanda Campbell, Forward Party candidate Celeste Landry, and Republican James Wiley, who happens to be a former Libertarian National Committee member and LPCO executive director who left the party last year to pursue the GOP nomination.
Editorial note: Nicholas Sarwark is a professional associate of the author of this article. He did not contribute to, nor was he consulted for, any part of this article.
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