Libertarians, independent candidates have more time to file for Iowa's 2022 ballot after court ruling

Libertarian and independent political candidates have more time to file to be on the general election ballot this year after a federal judge ruled part of an Iowa law unconstitutional.

The Iowa Legislature in 2019 moved up the filing deadline from August to March for any candidates running for office other than Democrats and Republicans — the only two parties currently recognized as major parties under state law.

The Libertarian Party of Iowa sued in federal court, arguing the March deadline violated the party's free association and equal protection rights under the U.S. Constitution's First and Fourteenth Amendments because the law treats Democrats and Republicans differently than other candidates.

Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Helen Adams ruled the law unconstitutional on April 8.

Since the new law has been declared unconstitutional, the previous filing deadline — in August — is now back in effect.

Kevin Hall, a spokesperson for the Iowa Secretary of State's office, said the filing period this year for any candidates who do not belong to the Democratic or Republican parties will be from Aug. 1-27. The office is working to update its website and candidate guide to reflect the change, he said Tuesday.

Major party candidates must file in March to appear on the June primary ballot, but until the 2019 law was passed all other candidates could file in August for the general election because they aren't able to hold primary elections. The law change required all candidates to file in March for the general election, at the same time major party candidates were required to file for the primary.

More: Iowa Libertarians lost major party status in 2018. Who’s to blame?

Jules Ofenbakh, chair of the Libertarian Party of Iowa, said the court's ruling gives the party more time to recruit candidates for key races.

"At this point, we’ve identified some of the strategic areas where we wanted to have our candidates and are working on recruiting them and running them," she said, while declining to identify any of the races the party will be targeting.

Earning more than 2% of the vote in a presidential or gubernatorial election secures major party status for political groups, which comes with the ability to hold state-run primary elections and for the party to appear as an option on voter registration forms.

Libertarians gained major party status in Iowa after the 2016 election, when the party's presidential candidate, Gary Johnson, earned more than 2% of the vote. Two years later, Libertarian gubernatorial nominee Jake Porter earned just 1.6% of the vote against Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Democrat Fred Hubbell. That caused Libertarians to lose major party status and return to being classified as a non-party political organization.

As a non-party political organization, Libertarians must either hold a convention to nominate candidates or candidates must circulate nominating petitions and secure a certain number of signatures from eligible voters in order to appear on the ballot.

More: Rick Stewart, Iowa Libertarian candidate for governor, wants to 'Make Iowa Nice Again'

This year, Libertarians are fielding candidates in just five races. Rick Stewart and Marco Battaglia are running as a ticket for governor and lieutenant governor, one candidate is running for a state senate seat in Des Moines, and three Libertarians are running for the Iowa House.

There are also only a handful of no party candidates who have qualified for the general election ballot — one candidate running for the Iowa Senate and four candidates running for the Iowa House.

Liberty Caucus candidate Bryan Jack Holder, who has formerly run for office as a Libertarian, has qualified for the general election ballot in Iowa's conservative 4th Congressional District, where Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra is seeking a second term.

No members of any other political groups have qualified for the general election ballot — but they now have until August to do so.

"The other two parties have consistently attempted to put barriers to ballot access to us and anybody else who’s running not on that ticket — on the Republican and Democrat ticket," Ofenbakh said. "So now we have more choices and hopefully we’ll be able to have more representation in our elected officials than just the two parties."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowan Libertarians have more time to file candidacies after ruling