On April 15, the Alaska Supreme Court released an explanation of why it removed the Republican Moderate Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate last year. State of Alaska v Metcalfe, S-11618.

The court ruled that Alaska’s old definition of “party” is constitutional. The old definition (which was changed in 2004, and which is in the process of changing again) was a group that had polled 3% for Governor, or which had registration equal to 3% of the last gubernatorial vote. The Republican Moderate Party did not fulfil either of these hurdles. However, in September 2004, a lower court had put that party on the ballot. The lower court had ruled that since independent candidates only need a petition of 1%, the state could not require parties to meet a higher standard. But the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that since parties have more impact on the ballot than a single independent candidate does, the state is justified in having a higher threshold for a qualified party, than for a single independent candidate.