The Libertarian Party has asked Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin for a ruling on petitions concerning presidential elections. The party won’t choose its national ticket until the end of May, 2016. Massachusetts permits independent candidate petitions, and petitions for the nominees of unqualified parties, to start circulating in February of the election year. However, in practice, if the Massachusetts petition form must list the presidential and vice-presidential nominees, the petition can’t realistically be circulated until the beginning of June 2016. It is due August 2, 2016.

The party has asked permission to circulate the petition before the presidential and vice-presidential nominees are known. The Massachusetts election law is very strong on the point that in a presidential election, the true candidates are the candidates for presidential elector. Massachusetts petitions forms not only include the names and addresses of the candidates for presidential elector, one original sheet of the petition must be signed by each candidate for presidential elector. By contrast, the petition form does not ask for the signatures of the presidential and vice-presidential nominees, although customarily their names are also on the form.

The Libertarian Party proposes that its 2016 petition include the names of the presidential electors, and their signatures, as is normal. For the blank lines listing the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, the proposed petition would say that they haven’t been chosen yet, but the electors listed on the petition at a later time would inform the Secretary of State of their choice for president and vice-president.

In 2008 the party won a lawsuit in U.S. District Court letting its petition list stand-ins for president and vice-president. Thus the party’s 2008 petition listed George Phillies for president, but the court ruling permitted the party to substitute Bob Barr after the convention was over. After the election was over, the First Circuit reversed the decision, on the grounds that it is deceiving to the voters who sign the petition to list stand-ins. The party’s new idea is designed to overcome that objection. Before the First Circuit ruling, Massachusetts had in the past permitted vice-presidential stand-ins, starting with the 1980 election, to help independent presidential candidate John B. Anderson, who didn’t choose his running mate until August 27, 1980, long after the petition had to be submitted. Anderson had listed Milton Eisenhower as his stand-in in most states, and Massachusetts accepted that.