On December 20, the Libertarian Party’s brief was filed with the 10th circuit, in the ballot access case against New Mexico. The lawsuit had lost in U.S. District Court, in September 2006. The lawsuit challenges New Mexico’s practice of requiring qualified minor parties to nominate by convention and then requiring each person nominated to submit his or her own separate petition (signed by 1% of the last vote cast). No other state except Pennsylvania requires the NOMINEES of a qualified party to submit a petition. The logical equivalent would be a law requiring primary winners to submit petitions to be on the November ballot.
Whatever claims the New Mexico state government makes toward having legal reasons for its ongoing fight with the Libertarian Party, the facts are obvious: The New Mexico state government is petty, dishonest, and petty and dishonest.
One notorious act just a few years ago allowed another new party to stay on the ballot while at the same time the New Mexico state government ruled diametrically opposite to keep the Libertarian Party off.
Petty and, as I said, dishonest.