Iowa Supreme Court bars Libertarian candidates for Congress from ballots. Here's why:

Three Libertarian candidates for Congress will not appear on Iowa's general election ballot after the Libertarian Party failed to follow the law when nominating them, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday.

The ruling is the final word on the issue. The court's decision ends a series of appeals brought by the Libertarian Party's nominees for Congress in Iowa's 1st, 3rd and 4th congressional districts seeking to be reinstated on the ballot after a state panel voted to remove them last month.

Six justices joined the court's unsigned opinion. One justice, Thomas Waterman, recused himself from the case and did not participate.

The decision could have a particular impact on competitive races in Iowa's 1st and 3rd districts, where the Republican and Democratic candidates will face each other without a third-party challenger on the ballot.

The three Libertarians say they plan to run write-in campaigns.

"This decision may have taken our names off the ballot, but it will not silence the voices of liberty in Iowa," Jules Cutler, chair of the Libertarian Party of Iowa, said in a statement. "We encourage voters to write in our candidates’ names to ensure that liberty and choice are still represented in this election."

The State Objection Panel removed the Libertarian Party's congressional nominees from the ballot last month, finding that the party didn't follow the law when nominating its candidates at a special convention over the summer.

The Iowa Supreme Court's ruling Wednesday upholds the panel's decision, meaning the Libertarian nominees — Nicholas Gluba in the 1st District, Marco Battaglia in the 3rd District, and Charles Aldrich in the 4th District — will not appear on Iowans' ballots this fall.

Libertarian presidential nominee Chase Oliver will appear on Iowans' ballots this fall. Republicans did not challenge his candidacy.

The Libertarian Party held its caucuses and conventions on the same night. That violated the law.

The Libertarian Party erred by holding its precinct caucuses and its county conventions on the same night, Jan. 15 ― even though state law says county convention delegates do not begin their terms until the day after they are named.

Several Republican voters brought the original challenges against the Libertarians. They argued that the error meant the candidates were not properly nominated at the Libertarian Party's state convention in June, since the earlier county convention delegates were not properly elected.

Libertarians had argued that they were in substantial compliance with the law and that the mistake was a technicality that should not remove them from the ballot.

More: Will a 181-minute mistake keep 3 Libertarians off the November ballot?

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the law's requirements must be followed exactly.

"We believe that Iowa Code Section 43.94 requires strict rather than substantial compliance," the court wrote. "The general rule is that election laws governing candidate qualification for the ballot require strict compliance."

The court wrote that Gluba, Battaglia and Aldrich could have gone through the primary process set out in Iowa law, just as the Democratic and Republican candidates did. Instead, they chose to be nominated by their party at a special convention.

"We are not persuaded that strict compliance with Section 43.94 is fundamentally unfair," the court wrote. "Gluba, Battaglia, and Aldrich could have qualified for the November general election ballot by filing nomination petitions with signatures like the other political party candidates. They relied instead on an alternative procedure afforded by Iowa law. Having done so, they had to be in compliance with that procedure."

Attorneys for the Libertarian candidates had also argued that the decision infringed on the Libertarian Party's right to freedom of association under the First Amendment. They said the state doesn't have the authority to govern the internal affairs of a political party.

But the Supreme Court wrote that Iowa's law is "well within the boundaries tolerated by Supreme Court precedent" and does not infringe on the Libertarian Party's First Amendment rights.

The law's requirement that precinct caucuses and county conventions be held on separate days "imposes a modest burden," the justices wrote.

"Gluba, Battaglia, and Aldrich do not contend that the two-day requirement would have been too burdensome for the Libertarian Party to meet; it just wasn’t met here," the court wrote.

Which races will be affected by the Iowa Supreme Court decision?

Iowa's 1st and 3rd congressional districts are both expected to be competitive this year. Both races are being heavily contested by Democrats and Republicans, who have spent millions on advertising.

In both races, the Libertarian candidates will have a difficult time making an impact without the benefit of their name appearing on the ballot.

Gluba was seeking to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the 1st District in southeast Iowa. Miller-Meeks, who is serving her second term, faces a challenge from Democrat and former state lawmaker Christina Bohannan.

The race will be a rematch from 2022, when Miller-Meeks beat Bohannan by about seven percentage points, or more than 20,000 votes.

In the 3rd District, which includes the Des Moines metro and central and southern Iowa, Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn is seeking his second term after narrowly winning his race in 2022 by about 2,000 votes. There was no Libertarian on the ballot that year. He faces a challenge this year from Democrat Lanon Baccam.

In 2018 and 2020, Libertarian Bryan Jack Holder ran for the seat, taking more than 7,200 votes in 2018 and 15,300 votes in 2020. Democratic former U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne's margin of victory was smaller than Holder's vote share each time.

Battaglia will face a challenge earning a similar number of votes this year without his name on the ballot.

In the 4th District, Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra is seeking his third term after defeating Democrat Ryan Melton in 2022 by 37 percentage points. Melton is challenging Feenstra again this year.

Early voting begins Oct. 16 for the Nov. 5 election.

Read the full Iowa Supreme Court decision:

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Libertarians lose state Supreme Court appeal, won't be on Iowa ballots