Judge: Libertarian will be on ballot

DES MOINES (AP) ? Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson will be on the Iowa ballot in November after a district court judge ruled Tuesday that supporters fulfilled state requirements.

The decision ended a maze of legal battles over Johnson?s candidacy, which had been challenged by two Iowa voters ? Gloria Mazza, of Clive, and Dean Montgomery, of Urbandale.

Libertarians had said they held a caucus at the Iowa State Fair to get Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico, onto Iowa?s ballot. But Mazza and Montgomery said Libertarians had volunteers persuade fairgoers to sign a document that said they were delegates for Johnson.

The challenge first went before a panel of three state officials, who voted unanimously last Wednesday to allow Johnson on the ballot. Secretary of State Matt Schultz, Attorney General Tom Miller and Warren Jenkins, the chief deputy for the state auditor, concluded Iowa?s law isn?t clear in its definitions of a convention or caucus and that, when in doubt, open ballot access should prevail.

The voters? attorneys filed documents Thursday in Polk County District Court asking Judge Arthur Gamble to review the panel?s decision.

Gamble concluded Tuesday that the state law governing nominations by third-party candidates does not contain detailed procedural rules established for the major parties intentionally to provide electors not aligned with the two major parties an informal process for the nomination of candidates. The purpose is to provide every lawful opportunity for electors to express their preference at the ballot box, Gamble said.

?This is the essence of democracy,? he wrote.

He said the panel correctly concluded that the activity of the Libertarians at the Iowa State Fair was all that is necessary to meet the caucus requirement.

The challengers decided not to appeal Gamble?s ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court, and a spokesman for Schultz said Johnson has been certified to the ballot.

?It was a very thoughtful decision that upheld the right of the Iowa people to have free elections and open ballot access,? said Alicia Dearn, the attorney representing Johnson?s campaign. ?It really confirmed that the secretary of state had done the right thing.?

A spokeswoman for the Republican Party of Iowa said she had no immediate comment.

A Romney campaign spokesman in Iowa has said he will not comment on the case. Jay Kramer, the Election Day operations director in Iowa for Mitt Romney?s campaign, signed the original challenge as a witness.

Johnson is battling ballot challenges in several states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma.

In past presidential elections, third-party candidates have been viewed as spoilers, taking enough votes away from one major party candidate to hand victory to the other. Johnson, a former Republican, would be more likely to siphon votes from Romney than President Barack Obama.

Ballots must be printed Friday in time to be sent to overseas military members by the Sept. 22 deadline.