Iowa courts make decisions. The ballot in November will not include any Libertarian candidates

Des Moines, Iowa – According to a Polk County judge’s decision, there won’t be any Libertarian congressional candidates on the ballot.

Late in August, candidates Nicholas Gluba of the 1st Congressional District in eastern Iowa, Charles Aldrich of the 4th Congressional District in western Iowa, and Marco Battaglia of the 3rd Congressional District in central Iowa were eliminated by a politically biased State Objection Panel.

The panel concluded that because the Libertarian Party of Iowa violated state law by holding county conventions and precinct caucuses on the same day, their candidacies were not legitimately nominated.

Libertarians contended during Thursday’s court arguments that since the objectors aren’t Libertarians and weren’t affected by the party’s mistake, they lack standing to submit an objection.

Judge Michael Huppert of Polk County District Court decided on Saturday that the objectors were entitled to file a challenge in accordance with state law.

Huppert also decided that the State Objection Panel correctly read the law and had the jurisdiction to hear and decide on the objections. Huppert concluded that neither the Libertarian Party’s nor the voters’ rights had been violated by the procedure followed by the objectors and the panel.

Battaglia claimed, “I was just informed of the decision by a stranger while out running errands,” in a statement on X. Right now, it’s not personal to me. It appears that the legal system will handle this either way. It is, in my opinion, a matter of right and wrong. And continuing to have us on the ballot would be the appropriate course of action.

The three candidates had already declared that should they be eliminated from the ballot, they would still run as write-in candidates.

In addition, Huppert lifted an injunction that prevented the office of Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate from approving the November ballot. With the lifting of the injunction, counties can now start printing ballots that Pate has certified.