Libertarian Party sues over state’s strict ballot requirements

The Libertarian Party of Tennessee says it’s too difficult for third parties to get on ballots in Tennessee.

The party on Friday sued state officials over Tennessee’s “unduly burdensome” ballot access requirements for minor parties, which Libertarian Party leaders say discriminate against thirdparty candidates and deny voters information about those candidates.

For the upcoming election, third parties running for statewide office must collect more than 43,000 signatures from registered voters 90 days before the election to be recognized to run candidates under Tennessee’s current laws. Candidates running as Republicans, Democrats or independents need only 25 signatures, which leads most third-party candidates for statewide office to be listed as independents in Tennessee.

The lawsuit asks for a judge to declare some of those ballot requirements unconstitutional and for a court order ensuring that Libertarian Party of Tennessee candidates are listed as members of their party on ballots in the Nov. 5, 2024, election.

The Libertarian Party of Tennessee and other minor political parties have challenged Tennessee’s ballot requirements several times, and in 2013 the Libertarian Party notched a win in federal court when a judge ordered the party’s candidate for the state House of Representatives be listed as a libertarian on ballots.

Tennessee was sued just a day before this lawsuit was filed over another of its election laws that requires polling places inform voters that it is illegal to vote in a primary election without being a “bona fide” political party member.

The Libertarian Party’s lawsuit was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee by members and leaders of the Libertarian Party of Tennessee against Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett and Elections Coordinator Mark Goins.

The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

To be recognized to run candidates on a general election ballot in Tennessee, minor political parties must present a petition with signatures totaling at least 2.5% of all votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. More than 1.76 million registered voters cast a ballot when Tennessee elected Gov. Bill Lee in November 2022.

The lawsuit states that meeting that requirement by the deadline of 90 days before the November 2024 election would be “virtually impossible.”

Libertarian Party of Tennessee Vice Chair Chris Darnell, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said that even when they have led successful petition drives, it takes a large amount of money and time that the two major parties do not have to spend.

“It takes a lot of work on the front end, and by the time we get to the election, a lot of our volunteers are already burnt out because we’re pushing them so hard to get those signatures,” Darnell said Monday.

The group’s lawyer, James C. Linger of Tulsa, Oklahoma, said that voters are withheld information about third-party candidates’ platforms when they are all but forced to run as independents.

“It’s hard to justify laws that give voters less information about candidates,” Linger said.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Evanmealins.

“It’s hard to justify laws that give voters less information about candidates.”

James C. Linger

Lawyer for the Libertarian Party of Tennessee