On September 12, a U.S. District Court Judge in Massachusetts held oral arguments in Barr v Galvin, the case over whether the party will be permitted to substitute Bob Barr on the ballot for George Phillies. The hearing was one hour. The judge asked few questions, and it is difficult to predict how he will rule. He said the ruling will not be out until September 19 at the earliest. The state said it doesn’t need the ruling until September 29. Massachusetts has not even had its primary (for office other than president) yet.
I attended the hearing on Sept 12 as an observer. The Secretary of State’s attorney said that each individual candidate must meet the signature requirement. In arguing that the signatures were gathered for the party, and not for an individual candidate, the LP attorney pointed out that the word “Libertarian†was the most prominent word on the nomination papers – leading voters to believe that they were signing for ballot access for the LP as a party. He did not mention that the form was also for the ballot access of a US Senate candidate, which I think would add weight to this argument.
The issue also came up that the form seems to indicate that Electors, not presidential candidates, were being nominated – the judge gave each party time to file additional briefs on this issue.