For the second election in a row, the New Hampshire Libertarian statewide petition has failed to obtain enough valid signatures. The party’s candidate for Governor will not appear on the ballot. He needed 3,000 and lacked 350 valid. The party’s candidate for US House in the 2nd district, and three legislative candidates, did have enough valid signatures.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court is currently pondering whether the state’s ballot access procedures violate the State Constitution. Although 3,000 signatures sounds easy, New Hampshire requires petitioning groups to submit signatures to each town clerk, and then requires the petitioning groups to collect the checked signatures and transport them to the Secretary of State. The logistics of all this transportation adds to the difficulty of the process.