The Libertarian Party consistently advocates and fights for open ballot access and voter choice. These efforts can involve anything from protesting and petitioning to testifying before a state legislature. Sometimes though, these battles go to the courts.
We are currently involved in several legal efforts to maintain full ballot access, and also to guarantee fair and equal treatment for third parties. The latter is seen clearly right now in Alabama. In 2019, the Libertarian Party of Alabama filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State for charging them $34,000 for a voter list — the same voter list that the Republicans and Democrats are given for free. The state sought a dismissal that was refused, and now after much effort from the state party, a date has been set for oral arguments. On August 24, 2021, a judge will hear from the Libertarian Party’s counsel and from the State’s counsel. We look forward to hearing the State defend that third parties should be saddled with extra onerous fees while the Libertarian Party defends equal and fair treatment under the law.
In Minnesota, the Libertarian Party is pushing back against long-standing attempts to interfere with ballot access. In June the Libertarian Party of Minnesota argued against the requirement for petition signatures to sign an oath that is unnecessary and confusing and can cause people to worry about supporting additional options of the ballot. While the state party has put in the work over and over again to successfully secure ballot access, both the requirements and the window of time to complete them are clearly used to hinder alternative parties from being on the ballot. We will continue to shine a light on these bad faith attempts and fight them until we are victorious.
From state to state, legal battles continue. The old parties have no new tricks, but they do still have the upper hand of the power to write laws and the money to defend those laws in court, no matter how antithetical to freedom and democracy they may be. No matter their advantage, we will not be stopped. You can help fund our legal efforts across the country and guarantee that when the powerful seek to remove any competition, they will not do so without a fight.
