The Libertarian Party of Tennessee on Friday sued state officials over Tennessee’s “unduly burdensome” ballot access requirements for minor parties, which Libertarian Party leaders say discriminate against third-party candidates and deny voters information about those candidates.
In the upcoming Tennessee elections, 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 judicial ruling that would 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.
The Tennessean aided to this report