An Iowa District Court judge upheld a state panel’s decision to remove three Iowa Libertarian Congressional candidates from the Nov. 5 ballot on Saturday. 

In a Saturday morning ruling, Polk County District Court Judge Michael Huppert ruled that the State Objection Panel’s Aug. 28 ruling to uphold Republican-led objections to the Libertarian candidates’ candidacy was within the panel’s authority and applied proper legal analysis. 

The ruling also dissolved the temporary injunction placed on the certification of the general election ballots by the Secretary of State’s office. 

The objections were brought by Republican party officials and activists who claimed the Libertarian party failed to follow state law regarding precinct and county nominating conventions. 

RELATED: Iowa libertarian congressional candidates kicked off ballot by state panel

The Libertarian party held their precinct and county conventions on the same day in early January, but state law says that precinct delegates don’t start their term until the following day. 

While the party plans to appeal the ruling, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the three candidates — Nicholas Gluba, of Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, Marco Battaglia in Iowa’s 3rd District, and Charles Aldrich in Iowa’s 4th District — may not be on the ballot unless the Iowa Supreme Court grants the candidates another temporary injunction. 

The decision comes as the race in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd congressional districts continues to tighten with the Cook Political Report moving their rating from “Likely Republican” to “Leaning Republican” this last week. 

The absence of a Libertarian candidate on the ballot could make a difference in close races, which are expected in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts. U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, was a first-term incumbent who won by less than 2,000 votes in 2022 with no Libertarian candidate on the ballot.