HARRISBURG, Pa. - The fight over whether the Libertarian Party's presidential ticket remains on the state ballot will move to the capital Wednesday for a final round of signature reviews that will set the stage for a hearing before a Commonwealth Court panel.

Representatives of the Libertarian Party and three Republican Party-backed voters who challenged the petition spent the last two weeks in Philadelphia, reviewing the signatures of about 38,000 city voters that were challenged.

The two sides are to reconvene at the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg to begin reviewing the more than 2,000 signatures from voters who live in other counties.

As of Tuesday, the Libertarian Party had accrued about 15,500 valid signatures of the 20,601 it needs to keep its presidential nominee, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, and other statewide candidates on the ballot, according to lawyers for both sides.

The challengers have succeeded in striking about 17,000 signatures. About 13,000 signatures remain contested.

"It's an arduous and tedious process," Larry Otter, a veteran election lawyer and member of the legal team representing the challengers, said when asked about the time-consuming review.

A three-judge Commonwealth Court panel will hear legal arguments in the case Sept. 12 in Harrisburg and could rule for one side or the other.

Marakay Rogers, a member of the Libertarian legal team and the party's nominee for state attorney general, said she is "cautiously" optimistic that the party will prevail on enough of the contested signatures to overcome the challenge.

Rogers, a York County lawyer, was the party's nominee for governor in 2010 but joined Libertarian candidates for lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate in withdrawing their candidacies amid a petition challenge filed by a group of Republican voters.

The 20,601 signatures that third-party candidates need to qualify for this year's statewide ballot represent 2 percent of the total ballots cast for the highest vote-getter in last year's statewide elections.

Originally posted here:

Libertarians' ballot fight moves to Pa. capital