The Grand Forks, North Dakota newspaper has this story about the aftermath of last week’s decision by the Secretary of State to put Joshua Voytek on the November ballot as the Libertarian Party nominee for Public Service Commission.
Voytek was left off the Libertarian Primary ballot because the Secretary of State’s office misfiled his declaration of candidacy. By the time the office found that paperwork, the primary ballots had already been printed. Secretary of State Al Jaeger consulted with the Attorney General, and they agreed that the only fair way to handle the problem was to list Voytek on the November ballot even though, technically, he had not been nominated in the Libertarian primary. But, according to the recent story, some Democrats are unhappy with that solution to the problem. Also, see this editorial in the June 25 Bismarck Tribune.
The way I read this, the Democrats are using the issue to highlight the incompetence of the Republican Secretary of State rather than (or more than) trying to keep the Libertarian off the ballot due to a snafu that was not his fault. I would think that normally it is Republicans who would like to make ballot access difficult for Libertarians. Greens, on the other hand, should watch out for traps set by the Democrats.
There is something to be said for the Secretary of State trying to make things right. But he (and the AG) do seem to be “making things up as they go along.”
Of course, if the national leadership of the Libertarian Party had it’s way, Libertarians would always be competing only with Republicans for votes. They have no control over what nuts file to run for various officers across the country. The candidate in ND could very well be some hippie star child pro-marijuana legalization activists.
2. That statement is wrong. If the party only competed for Repub. votes, it would never have a chance at succeeding. Libertarians dislike both Repub and Dem agendas. Both are for large government and oppressive laws. Libertarians oppose both. We can tangle with Dems as much as Repubs.
Hmm. I suspect its more anger directed at the incumbent. Its been awhile since third parties in ND have had much of a presence in campaigns and i have not seen too much media for these libertarian candidates, not even a web page for them….
Comment #2, the Libertarian candidates in North Dakota got on the Libertarian primary ballot by having the party officers sign statements saying the party endorses these people. There is also a difficult petition drive for candidates who aren’t endorsed by the party to get on that party’s primary, but all the Libertarians who filed got the party endorsement and avoided that petitioning.
Sue enough MORON bureaucrats to bankrupt them and things may change.
Again – having elections is one of the very few things that regimes MUST do in the U.S.A. — to maintain some sort of appearance of a Republican Form of Govt Art. IV, Sec. 4 in each State.
Any of you Libertarians know where I can find a plumber who refuses to use pipe and doesn’t like water?
And by the way, 2…since marijuana is a major cash crop in ND, it might not be a bad idea to run “some hippie star child pro-marijuana legalization activists.” You might finally get someone elected!