This blog post is being written on April 24, 2016. Exactly thirty-six years ago, on April 24, 1980, John B. Anderson, who had been seeking the Republican presidential nomination, declared that he was giving up the race for the Republican nomination and would instead run in the general election as an independent candidate. Anderson was very brave to do that, but his courage paid off.

He had already missed the petition deadline in five states: Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, and Ohio. Nevertheless, he circulated petitions in those states, along with the other states where he hadn’t missed the deadline. In July and August 1980 he won his lawsuits against the deadlines in those five states.

He also faced the problem that he hadn’t found a vice-presidential running mate. So he used a stand-in, Milton Eisenhower, who was 90 years old and was deceased President Eisenhower’s older brother. Anderson finally found his actual running mate on August 27, 1980, former Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey. By then petitions in almost all states had already been circulated with Eisenhower’s name on them. But Anderson’s attorneys persuaded almost all states to allow Eisenhower to withdraw and to have Lucey be replaced. Anderson sued three states that wouldn’t permit this (Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania) and won all those lawsuits.

Anderson had run in twenty Republican presidential primaries in 1980, and he faced charges that he was ineligible to get on the November ballot as an independent because he was a “sore loser”. But states almost entirely put him on the ballot, without any need for a lawsuit, because Anderson’s attorneys successfully argued that sore loser laws can’t apply to presidential primaries, because presidential primaries don’t nominate presidential candidates; instead they are elections for delegate to national conventions.

Anderson is still living. He is age 94 and is on the board of Fairvote, which works for proportional representation and instant-runoff voting.

The Arkansas Libertarian Party is currently in federal court over the Arkansas law that says newly-qualifying parties must choose all their nominees (except President) an entire year before a general election. The case is Libertarian Party of Arkansas v Martin, e.d., 4:15cv-635.

On April 21, the state sent an interrogatory request to the party. The state wants to see a copy of all of these documents, for the period from December 31, 2010, to the present: (1) the party’ call to convention; (2) the membership list, applications, and receipts; (3) newsletters; (4) blog or internet postings; (4) agenda for any convention; (5) minutes for any convention; (6) agenda for any state party meeting; (7) minutes for any state party meeting; (8) party rules; (9) agenda for any committee meetings of the executive committee; (10) minutes for any committee meetings of the executive committee; (11) list of officers of the party; (12) correspondence with any members of the Party concerning access to the ballot in Arkansas; (13) correspondence with the national Libertarian Party, or any of its Officers, concerning access to the ballot in Arkansas.

When states have difficulty justifying restrictive ballot access, and they are in court, they frequent try to deflect the question away from the characteristics of the law, to trying to find fault with the minor party or independent candidate who filed the lawsuit.

On April 22, the Tennessee legislature adjourned for the year. It did not pass SB 2528 or HB 2457 or any other bill on ballot access for newly-qualifying parties. Therefore, the pending Green-Constitution Party ballot access cases will start up again. The cases had been on hold while the court waited to see if the legislature would do anything. The cases challenge the petition to get a new party on the ballot; they also challenge the law on how a party remains on the ballot.