Supporters of Mitt Romney filed an emergency petition for judicial review in Polk County district court yesterday, seeking to reverse a state panel’s decision to allow Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson to appear on the Iowa general election ballot.

Iowa voters Gloria Mazza of Clive and Dean Montgomery of Urbandale are the petitioners against Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz, Attorney General Tom Miller, and State Auditor David Vaudt, who are represented on the state panel that resolves disputes over ballot access. Earlier this week, that panel rejected an effort by Mazza and Montgomery to keep Johnson off the ballot. Bleeding Heartland provided background and details about that decision here. Click here for the full text of yesterday’s court filing. It asks the court to expedite consideration of the case because the state of Iowa must print ballots in time to mail them to overseas military personnel by September 22. Excerpts:

9. During public deliberations yesterday, August 29, 2012, Attorney General MIller and Deputy Auditor Warren Jenkins initially voiced their opinion that, under any reasonable interpretation, the Libertarian Party did not hold a caucus or convention, and that its certificate of nomination was therefore legally insufficient.

10. Secretary of State Matt Schultz, however, faulted the legislature for not defining the words “caucus” or “convention,” and therefore was willing to certify the Libertarian Party’s nominees for President and Vice President, even though it did not hold a caucus or convention under any reasonable interpretation of those words.

11. Deputy Auditor Jenkins then switched his vote.

12. In the interest of unanimity, and noting that the Attorney General’s office would be representing the Panel in any further proceedings, Attorney General Miller also switched his vote. Thus, the Panel ultimately voted to deny Petitioners’ objection. […]

15. The Panel’s decision is:

(a) Based on an erroneous interpretation of a provision of law whose interpretation has not clearly been vested by a provision of law in the discretion of the Panel;

(b) unsupported by substantial evidence in the record made before the agency when that record is reviewed as a whole;

(c) otherwise unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious.

Click here to read the more detailed brief in support of the petitioners’ motion for temporary injuction. Other documents related to this case are available here.

Joan Scotter, a well-known Iowa Republican activist who is a nominee for the electoral college, filed a motion to intervene in support of the petitioners in this case. She endorsed Mitt Romney for president before the Iowa caucuses. Romney’s election day operations director for Iowa, Jay Kramer, appears to be orchestrating the efforts to strike the Libertarian ticket off the ballot.