RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal by the Libertarian Party of Virginia challenging the state’s policy of listing major party candidates first on ballots.
Virginia law provides that the first candidates listed on ballots are those who belong to parties that received at least 10 percent of the vote for statewide office in either of the two previous general elections. That currently applies only to the Republican and Democratic Parties.
The Libertarian Party argues that policy puts minor parties at a disadvantage and violates the Constitution. But a three judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday that it agreed with the lower court ruling dismissing the challenge. The appeals said the policy “imposes little burden” on the minor party candidates’ constitutional rights.
