On April 12, the North Dakota Secretary of State said that the Libertarian Party’s petition for party status is valid, and the party will be on the 2010 ballot. See this story. This is the first time a party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, has been on the ballot in North Dakota in a midterm year since 1998. The Reform Party got enough votes in North Dakota in 1996 so that it was on the ballot automatically in 1998.
The Libertarian Party is now ballot-qualified for statewide office, if not all office, in 30 states. Four years ago, at this point in the election cycle, it was ballot-qualified for statewide office in 28 states.
Congrats to the LP in North Dakota. Now if they can continue to keep that status.
I dined with the Libertarian Party in Fargo years ago in an effort to get support for a lobbyist effort on state ballot access, maybe even interest in Instant Runoff Voting. Just when I thought I was making some headway the party seemed to vanish. Much of the State media is somewhat leery about covering such candidates and burn out is a problem.