Can’t win if you don’t play

GOP-dominated board throws Libertarians off ballot in close races

DES MOINES – Iowa’s State Objection panel upheld removing three Libertarian candidates and restored a fourth, using tactics that the Libertarian Party of Iowa described as politically motivated.

“We are like Schrödinger's Party. We are both not important, and we’re exceptionally important at the same time,” said Stephanie Berlin, chair of the Libertarian Party of Iowa.

She added that polling shows that the difference between Republican and Democrat candidates for the two House districts and governor is close to the percentage of voters who typically vote Libertarian.Berlin spoke after the State Objection Panel meeting on June 22 that upheld the removal of two of the three Libertarian candidates whose candidacies were challenged. The party is filing appeals.

Libertarians Rick Stewart (House District 2) and Marco Battaglia (Dist. 3) faced challenges about their names from Republicans who claimed the candidates could not use a nickname (Stewart) or a changed name (Battaglia). Both had repeatedly appeared on Iowa ballots in previous years under those names without challenge.Also, both candidates received calls urging them to drop out, including calls from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which Stewart recorded and led to stories in The Washington Post and The Des Moines Register.

Stewart won his challenge and will be on the ballot; Battaglia lost and has filed an appeal in the Polk County District Court.

Jules Cutler, candidate for lieutenant governor, tried to file a needed candidate affidavit at the secretary of state office. Cutler said that a staffer told her the affidavit was unnecessary and did not take it. Without the affidavit, the secretary of state – a Republican – later declared the candidacy was not properly filed, which also forced governor candidate Nicholas Gluba off the ballot. The ticket is also under appeal.

Throwing third-party and independent candidates off the ballot happens each election. The fights this year are particularly sharp in U.S. House races, where pundits expect Democrats to pick up seats and potentially become the majority party. Both parties are maximizing their opportunities to get their preferred outcomes. 

Ballots Without Barriers is tracking actions that affect the ability of candidates and political parties to get onto ballots. Voters can find out how many obstacles independent candidates and third parties face in their states by visiting  www.ballotswithoutbarriers.com

Casting off grassroots candidates is the follow-up to last year’s redistricting strategy, starting when Republicans pulled back electoral maps in Texas to concoct shapes that potentially could add GOP-favored seats. California Democrats responded by reshaping California districts similarly. Other states followed, some schemes passing and some getting shot down.

“When the two-party system cannot rig the ballot by gerrymandering, they lean on independents and third parties to drop out, or they throw them off the ballot,” said Lars Mapstead, former candidate for president and founder of Ballots Without Barriers. “Voters lose either way.”