On October 1, the 10th circuit held a hearing in Libertarian Party of New Mexico v Secretary of State. The case concerns whether New Mexico has any valid state interest in requiring dual petitions…in other words, to require a new party to complete one petition to qualify itself, and then completely separate petitions for each of its nominees. New Mexico is the only state with a system like this; a similar system in Maryland was held unconstitutional in 2003.
In 2006, a U.S. District Court in New Mexico had upheld the law without even permitting evidence to be introduced. The ACLU appealed to the 10th circuit on the procedural issue of whether the lower court should have allowed evidence. Thus, the October 1 hearing was largely about court procedure, rather than substance. It appeared to go well for the Libertarian Party. If the party wins in the 10th circuit, the case would be returned to the lower court for evidence-gathering.
I would urge any New Mexico Greens reading this to stay tuned and be prepared to fire off correspondence in this matter as it greatly concerns us as well. Joining a suit via an amicus at the very least would probably be prudent as we and the Libertarians are in the same boat where the NM Dem establishment is concerned.