On December 11, Arkansas filed its brief in Libertarian Party of Arkansas v Martin, e.d., 4:15cv-635. The issue is a new law that says qualified minor parties (which nominate by convention) must nominate all their candidates for public office, except President and Vice-President, at least one year before the general election. No state has ever before required any type of party to nominate its candidates in the year before a November general election.
Arkansas major parties choose all their non-presidential nominees at their primaries on March 1, 2016, almost four months later. The state only cites one precedent to justify this discriminatory practice. In 1988, the Missouri Libertarian Party was late submitting its candidates for presidential elector, which were supposed to be listed on the party’s ballot access petition but which weren’t. The party handed in its presidential elector candidates several days after the petition deadline. The party then sued, saying it should not be required to submit its presidential elector candidates earlier than the qualified parties were required to submit them. The party lost in U.S. District Court and in the 8th circuit, although the vote in the 8th circuit was 5-5. That case was Manifold v Blunt.
The state’s brief says the party is not harmed by being required to choose all its nominees by November 9, 2015, at noon. The Arkansas Libertarians did hold a nominating convention by that date and did nominate some candidates, but it wants to nominate many more, and plans to hold another nominating convention in February 2016. The party argues that it takes time to find willing and able candidates, and that there is no state interest whatsoever in requiring the nominations to be made so early.
The state mentions the U.S. Supreme Court American Party of Texas v White, from 1974, which said that it is constitutional for the state to provide primaries only to the major parties, and to provide that smaller qualified parties nominate by convention. But the Texas law did not force the qualified minor parties to hold their conventions before the major party primaries, so it doesn’t support Arkansas’ scheme.
Texas does require all candidates for party nomination to file by December (14 2015). Independent candidates must also file their intent to run, though their petition is not due until June.
That is not true for presidential candidates running outside the Dem and Rep presidential primaries.
For non-presidential office in Texas, someone from the minor party must file a declaration of candidacy by tomorrow but the party doesn’t necessarily need to nominate the person who filed the declaration. The party can nominate someone who didn’t file.
Your comment about nominating someone else is not quite accurate.
Texas has a procedure for an extended filing period, when there is a late withdrawal of a primary candidate. But because of the timing to prepare ballots is tight (overseas ballots go out in mid-January), the withdrawal has to occur within a day after the filing deadline, and the extended filing period is only five days.
The conditions for a filing extension are extraordinary, such as death of a candidate, or an incumbent withdrawing immediately before the filing deadline. If an incumbent has filed, other potential candidates are likely to think, “(1) the incumbent is doing a good job; and/or (2) the incumbent can’t be beat; and I don’t want to spend any money on a filing fee, or campaigning.”
But then, the incumbent could withdraw, informing his friend, who files just before the deadline, and would be nominated unopposed.
The election code for convention-nominating parties is somewhat in parallel. But the parties don’t have to prepare ballots in advance of the nominating convention. The only duty of the party chair is to deliver the list of the candidates to the convention.
The election code lets convention-nominating parties to set an extended filing date in case of a withdrawal, death, or ineligibility. The Libertarian Party sets the deadline at 11:59 pm the day before the convention.
So for there to be a “someone else” nominated, a candidate who had filed has to die, withdraw, or be declared ineligible, and the “someone else” has to file.