Libertarian candidates for Congress will be left off Iowa ballots after final court decision

"Representing the challengers, conservative attorney Alan Ostergren argued that the candidates were improperly nominated at the party's convention because the delegates at the initial county conventions had not yet started their terms. State law says delegates start their terms the day after they are selected at precinct caucuses, but the Libertarian Party held county conventions the same day."

Really seems like a self inflicted wound, isn't it?

How hard would it have been to delay the convention until Midnight?

Libertarians here had similar organization issues:

https://www.opb.org/article/2024/09/04/oregon-republican-party-appeals-attorney-general-block-libertarians-ballot/?outputType=amp

"Under the Libertarian Party’s current constitution and bylaws posted online, candidates are supposed to be nominated by a mail or electronic election, unless the party’s board of directors lacks the money to run a mail election and votes to hold a convention instead. This year, the party scheduled a convention in Moro, but it didn’t have enough members show up to make a quorum."

LOL

While I still maintain my stance that anyone who votes 3rd party in a FPTP election is a moron, this does seem unfair.

The challenge was brought by Republicans, but it's a challenge based on Libertarian Party rules of how they choose who to nominate. The only people who should have standing are Libertarian Party members.

If they had put in their nomination forms late or made some other error with the process of doing the nomination, then it would be fair for Republicans or Democrats or independent voters to challenge to get them removed. But an internal matter that the article says was completely uncontroversial internally should not be brought by outsiders.

I can't agree with this in general. I can see the need for these kinds of tactics in the Presidential election, but for Senate? I mean, the Libertarians would probably cacus with the Republicans anyways if they won, and Iowa is pretty solidly Republican anyways (or so I imagine) so what's the big deal here in offering more choices to the voters?

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