On July 13, U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker denied the Maine Libertarian Party’s request for rehearing, in its lawsuit over the definition of a qualified party. But he did write that the existing law has severe constitutional problems. Here is his order. Baines v Dunlap, 1:19cv-509. In the meantime, the Libertarian Party’s presidential petition has approximately 2,500 signatures. The requirement is 4,000, due July 25. The only qualified parties in Maine are the Republican, Democratic, and Green Parties.
They’re cutting it too close. If they need 6,000 raw signatures, that means they need around 430 per day. And if they get a couple of days of thunderstorms, that number can move north in a hurry.
They were counting on a big July 14th, that being primary day. I wonder if it was big enough.
I was saying that the LP should have started this petition drive in Maine weeks ago. It was really foolish to put this off until the last minute.