For successfully challenging a 2015 requirement it hold its nominating convention four months earlier than the Democratic and Republican primaries, the Libertarian Party of Arkansas should be paid $29,619, a federal judge has decided.
That’s the amount U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. determined the Libertarian Party had to spend to challenge the requirement, which the newly recognized third party in Arkansas complained put it at a disadvantage compared with the major parties.
In a federal lawsuit filed Oct. 14, the party said Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office had set an “unnecessarily early requirement and deadline” and sought an injunction prohibiting Martin from enforcing it.
As a newly recognized third party, the Libertarian Party was required to nominate its candidates by convention instead of through a primary election. The party complained that by being forced to hold its nominating convention in October, more than four months before the March 1 primaries, Libertarian Party candidates didn’t have as much time as the major-party candidates to consider running for office and then become known to voters.
The state contended that it was simply trying to streamline the process and keep the election process organized.
In late February, Moody denied a preliminary injunction sought by the Libertarian Party, noting that all party candidates had to decide by Nov. 9, 2015, the party filing date, whether they wanted to run for office, and the Libertarian candidates’ inability to do so had nothing to do with the convention requirement set out in state statutes. Moody also cited the office’s interest in preventing voter confusion by limiting ballot access to serious candidates.
The injunction would have required the secretary of state’s office to allow the party to