Ruth Johnson blocking ballot spot for Libertarian presidential candidate

Maybe I’m out of the loop on this one, but I have seen no mention in the Detroit area media that Secretary of State Ruth Johnson is blocking access to the November ballot for Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson.

The Michigan Libertarian Party is ready to file suit because Ruth Johnson, a Republican, has determined that candidate Johnson is in violation of Michigan’s so-called “sore loser” law, according to Talking Points Memo.

That obscure law comes into play because Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor, initially ran as president in the Republican primaries. TPM is reporting that, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, the candidate filed his paperwork withdrawing from the Michigan GOP presidential primary back in November 2011 three minutes too late.

That would violate the sore loser law, which bars candidates who lose in a party primary from switching to another party to run in the general election. The TPM online story said most other states have similar laws, but rarely are they used to keep presidential candidates off ballot the ballot, according to experts.
"This particular action has never been taken," said Richard Winger, who runs the blog Ballot Access News. "It's unprecedented."

Winger explained the back story on his blog:

"This law was passed in 1955, at a time when Michigan did not have a presidential primary. In 1980, John B. Anderson formed the "Anderson Coalition Party" within Michigan, and his name was printed as that party's presidential nominee in November 1980, even though Anderson had run in the Michigan Republican presidential primary on May 20. Thus, a precedent was set that this law does not apply to presidential primary candidates."

Libertarians believe Ruth Johnson is doing Mitt Romney’s bidding, keeping Gary Johnson off the ballot so that he cannot siphon votes away from the Republican nominee. If the planned lawsuit fails, TPM reports that the Libertarian Party is contemplating putting a supporter named Gary Johnson from Texas on the Michigan ballot to protest Ruth Johnson’s decision.

You can read more here.