On November 12, the Tennessee Libertarian Party filed this opening brief in the Sixth Circuit in Lewis v Hargett, 24-5856. This is the case that challenges the Tennessee petition requirement for groups to qualify as a party. The law is so severe, no one has complied with it since 1968. It requires 56,083 signatures.

Because the petition for a party is so difficult, minor parties always run their nominees using the independent candidate procedure. But then they don’t have their party name on the ballot next to their nominees. This causes voter confusion, because the label “independent” is incorrect, and doesn’t give the voter any guidance about the actual party name. The U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized that voter confusion is an evil.