Tea time

The Independent American Party of Nevada filed a lawsuit Monday to remove Las Vegas asphalt company owner Jon Scott Ashjian from the November ballot as a "Tea Party of Nevada" candidate for the U.S. Senate.

In the lawsuit, IAP Chairman John Wagner and others claim Mr. Ashjian filed his candidacy for the U.S. Senate with the secretary of state's office in Las Vegas at 10 a.m. March 2, but that he did not change his registration from Republican to Tea Party until 2:25 p.m. March 2, which made it inappropriate for him to file as the party's candidate four hours earlier.

Mr. Ashjian denies the charge.

Getting to the heart of the matter, Mr. Wagner said Mr. Ashjian is not a "true" Tea Party candidate and that if he appears on the ballot he could draw voters away from the Independent American and Republican parties and thereby deliver the election to the incumbent, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The irony here is palpable, since this is the argument generally put forward for limiting ballot access for any minor party.

Yes, the presence of a candidate on the "Tea Party" line could end up benefiting Sen. Reid, with whom many on the right have their differences. Yet the precedent here is more important. Some modest procedural hurdles may make sense to keep the ballots from being festooned with hundreds of gadfly candidates. But using mere legal technicalities to reduce the voters' options reeks more of the politics of Chicago than of free-spirited Nevada.

"They should welcome the ability of minor parties to field candidates when the two major political parties have failed us so badly," says Mr. Ashjian.

Indeed. So long as all are free to speak, the voters will figure it out.