March 25 is the deadline for a new or previously unqualified party to submit its petition in South Dakota. For the first time since before 1992, the Libertarian Party failed to qualify.

The party has several options. In 1977 the 8th circuit ruled in MacBride v Exon that it would be unconstitutional for any state to require a new or previously unqualified party to submit its petition in time to participate in its own primary, if all it wants to do is list its presidential nominee with the party label on the November ballot.

South Dakota previously let independent candidates choose a partisan label, but the legislature repealed that in 2007. Therefore, if the Libertarian Party can finish its party petition and submit it somewhat later (for example, June 2008), it would stand an excellent chance of winning a lawsuit against the March 25 deadline for party petitions.

Also, the party is free to do an independent presidential petition, but that cannot start until after the party has chosen its nominee in late May, since South Dakota doesn’t permit stand-in presidential candidates on independent petitions. The independent petition requires 3,356 signatures, due in August.