Jay Kramer, a Mitt Romney campaign operative from Washington D.C., filed a challenge on Friday to keep Libertarian candidate for President, Gary Johnson, from appearing on the ballot in November. The Romney campaign hired the largest law firm in Iowa, the Des Moines based, Nyemaster Goode PC, for the challenge, which will be heard by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Shultz on Monday at 3 pm.
"This is clearly a set up," said the Johnson campaign's attorney, Alicia Dearn. "Romney can't beat Johnson on the debate stage, so he has resorted to cronyism. The Libertarian Party had two thousand petition signatures and should have been on the ballot without challenge, as they have always done in the past. But Republican Shultz [Iowa Secretary of State] - in violation of longstanding Iowa law - rejected the petition and required the Johnson campaign to caucus at the state fair. There, the Romney campaign surveilled the Johnson campaign's activities for the sole purpose of bringing this eleventh-hour challenge," Dearn said.
The Romney campaign's challenge was filed Friday afternoon and set for a hearing on Monday afternoon. The 106-page challenge includes pictures of Johnson supporters asking fair-goers to support having Gov. Johnson and the Libertarian Party offered as a choice on the ballot.
The challenge claims that the state fair signatures should be thrown out because the signers are not Libertarians. "The challenge is legally frivolous," asserts Dearn.
"You don't have to be a registered Libertarian to want a third choice on the ballot. Iowans deserve to choose for themselves who to vote for, which is why Gov. Johnson should be on the ballot and allowed to debate Romney and President Obama. Democracy suffers when voices are silenced."
Unlike other states, Iowa has a perfect history of allowing third-party candidates onto the ballot and is known for its independent-minded voter. "Iowa is one of the very few states that has never kept any general election presidential candidate off its ballot," said ballot access historian Richard Winger. "It is a policy that saves money and work for elections officials, because Iowa doesn't need to tally write-in votes for presidential candidates when all such significant candidates are on the ballot."
Republicans fear that Johnson, a former Republican two-term Governor from New Mexico, will siphon votes from Romney and create a victory for Obama. It is a claim that Governor Johnson does not shy away from. In a YouTube video titled, A Vote for Freedom is Never Wasted, Johnson says, "They deserve to lose your vote." Iowa is expected to be a battleground state this election.
According to Dearn, the Romney campaign is using similar tactics to keep Governor Johnson off the ballot in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and is pressuring the Commission on Presidential Debates to exclude Governor Johnson from the televised national debates. The Romney campaign has also been accused of fraud and bullying of Ron Paul delegates in several lawsuits throughout the country and protests by Ron Paul supporters are expected at the Republican Party convention in Tampa later this week. "Paul supporters were treated really badly in Iowa by the Romney campaign," Dearn said.
As the Libertarian candidate for President, Johnson promises to submit a balanced budget to Congress in 2013 and to reduce wasteful spending, advocates for reducing government intrusion into the everyday lives and liberties of Americans, supports the Constitution, and advocates for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Johnson will be on the ballot in all 50 states and has been qualified by the FEC for Federal matching funds. His running mate is retired California Superior Court Judge and former Naval officer, Jim Gray.
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