By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star
In a unanimous ruling Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that the law could require would-be Libertarian candidates for some offices to gather the signatures of up to 30% of registered members of the party to qualify for a primary election.
But Judge Margaret McKeown, writing for the court, said that isn’t the fault of the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature.
She pointed out that under the law, Libertarians, just like Republicans and Democrats, could offer themselves for office by getting the signatures of just 1% of all who are eligible to sign their petitions — which means people registered in their parties, plus independents. In this case, then, Libertarian candidates could draw petition-signers from their own party members and from unaffiliated voters.
However, McKeown said it is the decision of the Libertarian Party to allow only party members to vote in the Libertarian primary.
“And it does not want its candidates to solicit signatures from non-members,” she said.
Put simply, McKeown said the problem is of the party’s own making because of party policy.
And she said that voiding the law — and going back to the way things were — would “incentivize parties to have fewer registered members and therefore artificially reduce the signature requirements.”
