Bid denied for open Libertarian Party primary

Tuesday, July 25th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- The Libertarian Party won't have an open primary, as it had hoped. U-S Judge Tim Leonard denied the party's motion for a preliminary injunction that would have allowed Democrats, Republicans and Reform party members to vote in the Libertarian primary.

With the ruling, only Libertarians and Independents will be allowed to vote in the Libertarian primary. James Linger is the attorney for the Libertarian Party. Linger says opening up the party's primary would help the Libertarians reach out to voters of other political affiliations, thus helping the party expand. But state Election Board Secretary Lance Ward says opening up the primary on such short notice would cause confusion and could lead to voting irregularities.