Des Moines, Iowa (04/11/2022) –On April 8, 2022, Chief Magistrate Helen Adams of the Southern District of Iowa issued an order finding that a 2019 amendment to Iowa’s election law is unconstitutional. The amendment required Libertarian candidates to file their nomination petition in March while allowing Democrat and Republican candidates to file in August.
“It is sad that we were required to bring this action and those that are elected to support the constitution, instead used their position of power as a means to stifle competition.” said Jules Ofenbakh, Chairperson of the Libertarian Party of Iowa. “These laws were passed with broad bipartisan support by the Iowa Legislature as intentional barriers designed to prevent ballot access to Libertarian candidates.”
In 2019, the Iowa Legislature amended certain election laws changing the filing deadline for the candidates other than those from the Democrat and Republican parties, from August to March. This amendment was not at the request of the Secretary of State’s office. Instead, the ease of staff efforts during the filing periods was used as an excuse provided to the court for such change. During the legislative process, however, the Secretary of State and his staff “took no position on the proposed amendments.”
“The ballot proposed by this bipartisan effort, only has one more name than a ballot in Russia. Thanks to this order, an Iowan ballot will be a better representative of our American election process” Ofenbakh said.
Press Contacts
For further details, please reach out to
Libertarian Party of Iowa
info@lpia.org
(515) 423-0093
