On September 22, U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton granted injunctive relief to Bob Barr and the Massachusetts Libertarian Party, and ordered them placed on the ballot. Barr v Galvin, 08-11340. The decision is eleven pages long. It says, “No public interest is served in having the wrong nominees on the ballot. Indeed, conversely, the public interest is advanced by including the right nominees on the ballot to avoid voter confusion. The Secretary asserts an interest in protecting the integrity of the election process but that interest is not threatened here.” Here is the text.
Although there has been some internal discord and disunity in the Libertarian Party this year, the Massachusetts lawsuit was a model of Libertarian unity. George Phillies, the stand-in listed on the Massachusetts Libertarian petition, helped win this lawsuit. Phillies is on the board of the Massachusetts ACLU, and the Massachusetts ACLU handled this case. Phillies himself gave testimony in support of the lawsuit.
there you go finally some good news.
45 states. This is why a vote for Barr is better than a vote for Pastor Baldwin who is only on 37 states. If Barr gets one more state he has my vote locked up.
What does ballot access matter in determining which candidate to support? If Mussolini were on 45 ballots to Jesus’ 37 ballots, would that be a good reason to vote for the former?
Hugh,
There aren’t any Mussolini worshipers trying to eliminate mine and my husband’s marriage, so yeah, good enough reason for me, I guess. 🙂
But, seriously, this is wonderful news. I hope others follow Richard’s example and give George his due credit in this case.
Kudoe to George Phillies for doing the right thing in this case. I’m still hoping he’ll do the same in the New Hampshire case.
Mussolini was not a good guy, but he did not commit mass murder on the scale of Adolph Hitler, Iosif Dzhugashvili, Abraham Lincoln, Mao Zedong, or even Vladimir Putin. The number murdered in the name of Jesus of Nazareth may exceed all of the above combined.
Good news. Thank you George Phillies for helping on this move.
Thank you Dr. Phillies
# M Carling Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Kudoe to George Phillies for doing the right thing in this case. I’m still hoping he’ll do the same in the New Hampshire case.
Mussolini was not a good guy, but he did not commit mass murder on the scale of Adolph Hitler, Iosif Dzhugashvili, Abraham Lincoln, Mao Zedong, or even Vladimir Putin. The number murdered in the name of Jesus of Nazareth may exceed all of the above combined.
I’m sorry but thats just not true, Mussolinis atrocities in Abyssinia and Libya must never be forgotten
State by State 12th Amdt Electors – Robots can choose any person to be Prez.
Abolish the timebomb Electoral College NOW — along with ALL super-dangerous party hack caucuses, primaries and conventions.
Ballot access ONLY by EQUAL nominating petitions — i.e. fewer freak – NO chance candidates on the ballots to confuse the voters.
Approval Voting for nonpartisan executive / judicial offices — vote for 1 or more, highest win.
—
P.R. for legislative body elections.
George did the right “thing” in MA. The right thing for NH is for george to find a balence between what the NH party wants and what the rest of the LP wants. Some time compromises arn’t possible.
I think at a minimum George Phillies needs to articulate what promisses he made to members of the NHLP and to whom in the NHLP. Then those individuals could agree to release george from those promises.
What about the elector that did not want Barr?
The elector who did not want Barr also helped win the lawsuit. He said he would resign as a candidate for elector. Since we won the right to substitute for president and vice-president, we also have automatically won the right to use substitution for an elector. So he helped win the lawsuit also.
So, thanks to George Phillies and the elector (Tory?) for the good work.
Great job! Thanks George and Art for your contributions to the case!
Thanks to George Phillies and thanks to the ACLU.
Conratulations on the Victory to the Libertarian Party of Mass and National.
Congratulations to Bob Barr.
If Barr gets on in 47 states, I’ll send a $2300 donation for advertising.
To George Phillies:
You should run for a more reasonable office level next time, eiter US House or Mass State Rep. If you run a serious campaign to win one of those offices, I’ll donate $1000 to your campaign.
I hope you’ll start planning today.
Now, what’s happening on the Barr effort to reverify signatures in Connecticut?
This is great! With a little luck maybe we will win cases in a few more states, and hopefully everything in Connecticut ends up ok.
This is very exciting news on an otherwise sad day.
I would like to take a moment to thank George Phillies for a moment, for your service to Freedom and Liberty in this election season!
As the ONE of the electorS who reluctantly agreed to be substituted in the case if need be, I’m glad the mess is over. I just wish there had been a way to get the right to substitute without having Barr be on the ballot – The end result is I don’t have a candidate on the ballot that I am willing to vote for… No way will I vote for Barr. Baldwin is at least honest, but I’m not into theocratic bigots. I’m not a watermelon, so McKinney is out. And as far as I’m concerned Nader is even less safe than my old Corvair…
I will have to see if there is a list of registered write-in choices in MA, or else fall back on NOTA or “This choice intentionally left blank!”
ART
STILL Not casting an electoral vote for Barr…
It’s going to be finish of mine day, however before finish I am reading this impressive post to increase my experience.