New Mexico Supreme Court Affirms Lower State Court Ruling that Libertarian Party is a Major Party

On June 28, the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a one-sentence ruling saying that the lower state court ruling in Grider v Oliver, S-1-SC-38784, is affirmed. The Supreme Court did not provide any analysis or detail. The lower court had ruled that the Libertarian Party was properly on the ballot in last month’s special U.S. House election. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.

The New Mexico definition of a major party says that it is a group that polled 5% of the gubernatorial or presidential vote for “any” of its candidates. In 2020 the Libertarian Party polled over 5% of the presidential vote total for one of its statewide judicial nominees, and the Libertarian Party and the Secretary of State agreed that this meant that the party meets the definition. But a voter had challenged that decision, arguing that only the vote for president or governor counts toward party qualification.


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