The three-member State Objection Panel, which is composed of one Democratic and two Republican elected officials, voted 2-1 Wednesday in favor of removing the libertarians from the ballot and upholding a previous decision that said the Libertarian Party failed to follow the proper procedures when nominating their candidates for office. The challenges against all three candidates were filed by Republican voters across Iowa, including county chairs, political candidates, and activists, according to the Des Moines Register.

“This is about silencing us,” Libertarian Party of Iowa Chairman Jules Cutler told reporters following the panel’s decision. “This is about silencing voices. This is about controlling who we can and cannot vote [for].”

The sole Democrat on the committee, State Auditor Rob Sand, accused his Republican colleagues on the panel of political bias, saying in a statement that the decision was “a wrong-headed plot by Iowa’s uniparty to limit voters’ choices.”

The challengers accused the Libertarian Party of failing to follow the Iowa state law procedures for political parties to nominate candidates for office. 

In 2022, the Libertarian Party of Iowa qualified for major-party status after its gubernatorial candidate earned more than 2% of the vote. The new status allows voters to hold state-run primary elections and allows the party to register voters as libertarians, but it also requires them to have certain steps in their nomination process, such as the Democratic and Republican parties.

The Republican-allied challengers said the Libertarian Party failed to notify county auditors of the results of its precinct caucuses, which included the names of the people elected as county convention delegates. This is required by state law from major parties.

The challenge also said the Libertarian Party’s county conventions were held the same night as its precinct caucuses, which was not allowed, but state law notes that county convention delegates don’t begin their terms until the day after they are selected.

At the news conference, Cutler acknowledged the party had made mistakes but remained firm that its procedures followed Iowa law.

“It is embarrassing that we didn’t do it,” Cutler said. “It is a learning process; it is growing pains. But at the end of the day, we are substantially compliant with the law.”

Libertarian candidates Nicholas Gluba in the 1st District, Marco Battaglia in the 3rd District, and Charles Aldrich in the 4th District will all be removed from the general election ballot. The decision is being appealed, and all three candidates said they plan to run as write-in candidates.

“What they just did was unshackle me from a party platform,” Battaglia said at the news conference following the decision. “So if they tell me I’m not a libertarian, then I’m going to be even better suited to represent the people of District 3. And I think that they should be even more scared now of a write-in campaign.”

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It is believed that in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, a third-party candidate could change the outcome. There, Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) won his seat in 2022 by razor-thin margins, beating incumbent Democrat Cindy Axne by just over 2,000 votes, and there was no libertarian on the ballot. He is being challenged by Democrat Lanon Baccam this election cycle.

The libertarian presidential nominee, Chase Oliver, did not face a challenge to his candidacy and will appear on Iowa’s general election ballot.