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Libertarian Party plans to sue Michigan Secretary of State for ballot access
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| Contributor | CincinnatiReds1990 |
| Last Edited | CincinnatiReds1990 Jun 12, 2012 09:30pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | David Eggert | deggert1@mlive.com |
| Media | Newspaper - Jackson Citizen Patriot |
| News Date | Tuesday, June 12, 2012 12:30:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | LANSING, MI - The Libertarian Party of Michigan said Monday it will sue the secretary of state to put its candidate on the presidential ballot, continuing a fight that could have bigger implications if the race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is razor-tight.
The Libertarians were warned by the state to not nominate former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson for president because his name was on Michigan's GOP presidential primary ballot in February. Under the state's so-called "sore loser law," a candidate who loses a primary cannot be nominated by another party to run in the general election.
The state Libertarian Party decided to nominate Johnson anyway at its June 2 convention.
Party spokesman Michael Moon said Johnson dropped out of the race for the GOP nomination in December and tried to remove his name from Michigan's primary ballot only to have the state Bureau of Elections tell him he filed his withdrawal affidavit three minutes too late.
"We're not playing their games basically," he said Monday while complaining about not getting calls returned from elections officials. A lawsuit is being prepared, he said.
Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, said the law is clear.
"He did try to remove himself from the (primary) ballot but did not send in the affidavit stating he was not a candidate in time. So he was left on the ballot," he said. "We're following the law here."
In 2008, Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr received under 24,000 of about 5 million votes cast in Michigan, or less than one-half of 1 percent. It is a tiny amount that had no bearing on Barack Obama's comfortable win over John McCain - but might if Michigan has a razor-thin race in 2012 like Florida had in 2000, which was decided by 543 votes.
Voters who agree with the Libertarian Party's positions could vote Republican if their choice is only between a Republican and a Democrat. The spoiler effect of the Libertarian Party on GOP c |
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