PHOENIX — A federal judge has refused to block a 2015 Arizona law that its legislative proponents admit was designed to try to keep minor-party candidates off the ballot.
U.S. District Judge David Campbell said Friday the Arizona Libertarian Party, in waiting until last month to challenge the statute, did not leave enough time for him to consider the merits of its claims or for Secretary of State Michele Reagan to defend the law. That’s because the deadline for candidates to file their nominating petitions is June 1.
Campbell said there was no reason for challengers to wait as long as they did before asking him to void the law.
But he rebuffed a bid by attorneys for the state to dismiss the entire case. Instead, Campbell wants to schedule a hearing on the merits of the arguments and decide whether the law is valid and can be applied to the 2018 election.
Attorney Oliver Hall, who sued on behalf of the Libertarian Party, said he believes Campbell eventually will declare the law illegal.
Prior to this year, would-be candidates qualified for the ballot by getting the signatures of one-half of 1 percent of all party members within a given area. So for a Republican seeking statewide office, that translates to 5,660 signatures.
The new formula changes that to one-quarter of a percent — but of all people who could sign a candidate’s petition. That adds political independents, who outnumber both Democrats and Republicans, to the equation.
Under this new formula, a Republican statewide candidate needs 5,790 signatures.
The problem with all that, Hall charges, is the effect on minor parties.
Using the pre-2016 formula, a Libertarian could run for statewide office with petitions bearing just 134 names, one-half of 1 percent of all those registered with the party.
But the new formula, which takes into account all the independents, requires a Libertarian trying to get on a statewide ballot to get 3,023 signatures.
There are only 25,340 registered Libertarians in the entire state.
