As noted earlier, on September 17 a Kentucky state court ruled that Libertarian candidate Edward Martin should remain on the ballot as a candidate for U.S. House, 3rd district. On September 23, the man who had challenged Martin’s ballot status filed an appeal in the State Court of Appeals. Cummings v Martin.

The issue is Martin’s voter registration. He is a registered Republican, even though he is a dues-paying member of the Kentucky Libertarian Party and is the party’s choice to run for Congress. Kentucky law says an independent candidate must not be a registered member of a qualified party. The lower court had interpreted that law not to apply to bona fide political parties, even if they are unqualified parties. The appeal brief says that legally, unqualified parties are just the same as independent candidates.

On September 23, U.S. District Court Judge James Brady ruled that Bob Barr should be on the Louisiana ballot, but that co-plaintiff Brian Moore (Socialist Party nominee) should not be on. The case is Libertarian Party et al v Dardenne, 08-cv-582. The judge stayed his opinion for two days to give the state a chance to appeal to the 5th circuit.

Judge Brady differentiated between Barr and Moore by noting that the Libertarian Party is a ballot-qualified party, whereas the Socialist Party is not. He said the law gives a qualified party a three-day grace period, but that the law does not extend that to unqualified parties. The written decision is not available yet; the judge spoke orally. The written opinion should be available by 5 p.m. central time.

The judge also mentioned that one of the Socialist Party elector candidates omitted his address from the form, although that does not seem to have been a determining factor.

Some Oregon activists who care about minor parties and independent candidates have created this webpage, to assist the campaign against the “top-two” initiative on the Oregon ballot.