From the Libertarian Party of North Carolina, as reported by IPR member libertypoint:

RALEIGH â€” A Superior Court judge ruled May 27 that â€œthere is no fundamental right for a voter to vote for the party of their choiceâ€ and threw out the state Libertarian Partyâ€™s challenge to North Carolinaâ€™s elections laws.

Judge Robert Hobgood ruled in the lawsuit filed by the Libertarian and Green parties challenging the legality of the Stateâ€™s elections laws under the North Carolina Constitution.

â€œWeâ€™re deeply saddened by this ruling,â€ said Barbara Howe, LPNC chair. â€œNot only did the judge support the Stateâ€™s power to take away our right to choose who represents us, he also upheld the Stateâ€™s assertion that North Carolina voters are not smart enough to fill out a so-called long ballot.â€

â€œThis is a very sad day for representative government,â€ she said.

The judge agreed with the Stateâ€™s argument that the number of elected offices that may appear on the ballot in Presidential election years, along with the use of optical scanning equipment, can cause â€œvoter confusion.â€

â€œThe more parties there are that are recognized by the State and that place candidates on the ballot, the greater the chance there is for ballots that are so long as to be unwieldy and to risk voter confusion and frustration of the electoral process,â€ Judge Hobgood wrote.

â€œIn effect, the State says North Carolina voters are not as smart as Iraqis, who had more than 100 parties to choose from in their elections,â€ Howe said .

The party now has to decide whether it can afford to appeal this decision. â€œWe are out of money, having spent nearly $140,000 already to get back on the ballot,â€ she said.

â€œWhether we appeal or not, the Libertarian Party is not going away. We will continue to fight for our rights and the rights of all North Carolinians,â€ Howe concluded.