Covington, KY (5/9/2019) – U.S. District Court Judge William O. Bertelsman found the actions of the Kentucky State Legislature to be “arbitrary and capricious”. The Legislature had passed and Governor Matt Bevin (R) signed into law on March 19th House Bill 114. The Bill retroactively moved the filing date for Statements of Candidacy from April 1st back to January 11th of this year. The judge issued a preliminary injunction reversing decisions by the Kentucky Board of Elections and the Boone County Board of Elections that were based on the faulty legislation. The Boards had ruled that no Libertarian candidates were eligible to run in the 2019 General Election because they missed the January 11th deadline. The injunction signed by Judge Bertelsman clears the way for five Libertarian candidates to be on the ballot November 5, 2019.
Chris Wiest, attorney for the Libertarian Party of Kentucky, had this to say after the ruling.