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ELECTIONS
Judge tosses Barr's W.Va. ballot access lawsuit
Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr speaks at the National Press Club in Washington on Friday.
Purchase this photoCHARLESTON -- The Libertarian Party's candidate for president won't be on the ballot in West Virginia, after a federal judge ruled that it waited too long before seeking petition signatures.
U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. has dismissed the lawsuit filed by the party, White House nominee Bob Barr and other party officials.
Copenhaver concluded Friday the Libertarians knew well in advance that it had to submit 15,118 valid voter signatures by Aug. 1 to get on the ballot. But party members waited until about 19 days before the deadline, and missed the mark.
The party handed in 13,171 signatures by Aug. 1, then another 10,652 about three weeks later. Copenhaver said the Libertarians likely would have had enough valid signatures if they had just started two or so weeks sooner.
"They were free to commence their signature-seeking efforts at any time," his dismissal order said. "It was their lack of reasonable diligence that ultimately thwarted their effort to gain ballot access here."
The lawsuit had targeted the petition process as arbitrary and unfair. It was filed against Secretary of State Betty Ireland as West Virginia's chief elections officer.
A party spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Friday's ruling noted that in other states requiring signature petitions for ballot access, Libertarians got the ball rolling as early as 2004. Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, is on the ballot in 42 states, according to the Libertarian Party Web site. The party has signature petition pending in six other states, and also sued for ballot access in Oklahoma.
The Democratic and Republican parties are automatically on the West Virginia ballot. So is the Mountain Party, because of its success in attracting sufficient votes in prior elections. It is aligned with the national Green Party in this year's presidential contest. Cynthia McKinney, a former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia, is its White House hopeful.
Two other minor parties handed in enough petition signatures in time: the Constitution Party, with Chuck Baldwin as its presidential nominee; and the Independent Party, which is supporting Ralph Nader.
