On June 1, U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker held a hearing in Baines v Dunlap, 1:19cv-509. This is the Maine Libertarian ballot access case. The party is asking for injunctive relief, to restore it to the ballot. It was removed in November 2018 for failing to have 10,000 registered members who cast a ballot in the general election. The state then converted all its registered members from Libertarians to independents, without even asking them.

The case also challenges the January deadline for a new party to qualify, and the number of signatures needed for a member of a small qualified party to get on his or her own party’s primary ballot. A decision will be rendered fairly soon.