Connecticut Senator Andrew Maynard (D-Stonington) has introduced Proposed Bill 778, which cuts the number of signatures for statewide and U.S. House candidates, in the general election, down to 1,000 signatures. Current law requires 7,500 signatures for statewide candidates, and signatures equal to 1% for U.S. House candidates, which is always close to 3,000 signatures in midterm years and 2,400 in presidential years. The bill was introduced at the request of the Libertarian Party. In 2008, Connecticut was one of the five states in which the Libertarian Party was unable to place Bob Barr on the ballot. The other states in which Barr didn’t appear were West Virginia (which has since reduced its signature requirement), Louisiana, Maine, and Oklahoma (where a bill is pending to reduce the signature requirement).
Thanks to Marc Montoni for this news.
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Allow me to take this opportunity to point out to advocates for “third party unity,” that it was Ralph Nader, Christina Tobin and the “Naderites” who screwed the Libertarian Party out of ballot access for Connecticut in 2008.
I was there. In fact, I believe I was the #1 signagture gatherer in the State for the LP.
The Nader people promised they’d carry our petitions, if our people carried there’s. I refused. to carry there’s, but others did. Only, they never lived up to their part of the bargain.
Also, they blocked many of our LP petitioners and stole our locations, most assuredly around populous Hartford.
And, on turn-in eve, they promised at least 5 notaries to help with signing off on the LP petitions, if the LP did the same. We were all to meet at a home in a grungy section of Hartford owned by the Naderites.
Well, the sly Naderites pulled a fast one on us. They had all their petitioners come in early in the evening, and went first. Thus, the Libertarian notarys did their petitions for hours. When the LP petitioners started coming in at around 9 pm, the Nader notarys fled. Leaving the few LP notarys there to do petitions for about 20 LP petitioners.
Pure and utter chaos. Which may have resulted in a sloppy turn in ultimately at the Statehouse, and denial of ballot access.
Lesson learned for Libertarians – NEVER, EVER, EVER TRUSY A LEFTY. Don’t even work with them on anything! They are the enemy of all Libertarians.
Eric Dondero,
You have made some serious accusations there, but that seems to be all they are. Where is your proof of this unbelievable behavior? Have you attempted to contact someone who can legally speak for Ralph Nader, or considered that if there was this kind of questionable behavior that it was not sanctioned by Nader or any of his official representatives?
Still, having grown up in the 60s and following Nader’s life, if there is one thing that stands out about a man who is the most dedicated consumer “advocate” anyone could ever hope to have, it is his sense of ethical and moral behavior. His Mother and Father were model parents in this regard.
I can assure you that there is more going on here can either you are telling, or you are missing something yourself. Ron Paul has a solid sense of morality as well, and I’m sure he would not be very happy with your making such accusations without any supporting evidence.
First of all, most of the petitioners hired by the Nader campaign were not “lefties,” they were mercenaries who were out to make a buck.
Second of all, Nader petitioners and LP petitioners (who were in a lot of cases one in the same) worked just fine together in a bunch of states.
If it hadn’t been for petitioners hired by the Nader campaign who also carried the Libertarian Party petition in Texas in 2004 the Libertarian Party would have probably failed to make the ballot.