During the last week of July, several leaders of Americans Elect within Oklahoma held a state Americans Elect convention. All the registered voters in Americans Elect were informed of the convention, and about half of them participated. They elected state officers, and also nominated candidates for presidential elector who are pledged to Gary Johnson for President and James P. Gray for Vice-President. On August 7, they submitted the names of their presidential elector candidates to the State Board of Elections.
These state leaders of Americans Elect believe that Johnson has at least a chance to poll 10% of the vote for President in Oklahoma, and that would keep the party on the ballot for 2014. They are not necessarily libertarians, but they respect the Johnson campaign. The Libertarian Party is currently in court over its own ballot status.
Well, regardless of the result of the LP court battle, Gary Johnson is on the ballot in Oklahoma. If the LP wins, will OK print Gary Johnson’s name twice under the “Libertarian” and “AE” labels?
Impressive move by Americans Elect Oklahomans. I wonder if there will be any response by AE’s national leaders to this move.
I don’t think Johnson will be on the ballot in Oklahoma. Somehow, someway…
The fact that the Gary Johnson campaign is having to jump through this many hoops to get him on the ballot is insane. I appreciate those working hard to make it happen.
@3… since OK is not in play they might let him on. His presence will change nothing.
More state Americans Elect parties should do this. Have someone on their ballot line and keep their ballot access. Try again in 2016 to get their won candidate or merge with another party. The national leaders might want to shut down the party but the local people in each state can still take over.
#1, it appears that if the Libertarian Party gets on the Oklahoma 2012 ballot, that it would be possible for the Libertarian Party and the Americans Elect Party to jointly nominate the same candidates for presidential elector. The anti-fusion law in Oklahoma doesn’t cover presidential elector candidates. The anti-fusion law is in section 5-105A, and only covers candidates who run in a partisan primary.
In 1924, Robert La Follette was on the Oklahoma ballot twice, and voters could vote for him under either label, Socialist or Farmer-Labor.
Thank you American Elect members in Oklahoma. How gracious and alert you are. I am impressed.
I wonder if any of the other Americans Elect State parties will endorse candidates. Roseanne Barr’s only hope to get on the ballot in most states is to get endorsements from other parties, and those are dwindling as they give out endorsements to other candidates. It will be interesting to see if her campaign is competent enough to file in Colorado by the deadline tomorrow. Colorado’s Secretary of State just updated its page of candidates and she’s not on it.
I am really excited about this. I hope it sticks.
As a side note, I posted this link to Facebook directly and the description and title text was an ad for viagra. I don’t think that is something that should be happening.
At least the millions of dollars AE spent finally accomplished something good.
Please excuse my crude language, but, eat it AE Executive Committee. I will say that I was one of te first supporters of AE and was completely disenfanchised when National decided to, in short, defrauded those who spent time and money on the org.
I will be interested to see how other state delegations respond. In fact, here in Kansas Goode (or Stein if the independent petition doesn’t work) could capitalize on such a practice.
Hi all,
Oklahoma State Chair here and I’d like to say a couple of things:
Brad M. – Yes, there has already been action taken by the national organization. They inadvertantly heard about our move before we filed and they tried to head it off by firing off a letter to the OSEB that stated they had abandoned all their ballot access attempts and wanted to remove their party status. However, Oklahoma law doesn’t allow them to do that. They have given us the full status and rights we asked and fought for. They accepted our certification and the oaths for our electors. At the end of the day, the national organization is going to have very little to say about whether or not Gary makes the ballot.
Clay – the AGs office here is not at all opposed to the idea. There are some peculiarities to the Oklahoma Presidential ticket that we have to work through, but we have history on our side. I give it the ole’ Crocodile Dundee ‘Better than average. . .’
George Whitfield – You’re welcome 🙂 However, I have to give thanks to the Libertarian Party and Gary Johnson’s campaign. Without their support and legal help, we never would have gotten out of the gate.
Rex Lawhorn
State Chairman, Americans Elect of Oklahoma
Yes, we live!
Excellent news!
Any non-prez candidates?
#14, there can’t be any AE nominees in Oklahoma for office other than president, because no one filed to run in the AE primary that was held earlier this year.
@5 if they let him on the ballot, he has the potential to bring some publicity to the LP and the causes of third parties/ballot access. By campaigning hard in states that most candidates don’t even touch, the Johnson campaign is making inroads which will hopefully pay off in November.
Gary Johnson should focus most of his attention on the following strategy:
– Trying to win small states
– Hard campaigning in safe Dem or GOP states
– Big Ads
Imagine if Johnson can be in the debates, then things will be interesting!
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It is highly likely that Gary will not be campaigning in Oklahoma. However, I have been told that Judge Gray might be making a couple of Oklahoma stops.
Johnson’s “western strategy” could pay off – show off support for drug legalization, marriage equality, and law and order (which means following the 4th amendment and the other laws in our constitution), and expose the major candidates’ hypocrisy on positions they supposedly support. I think he could then make inroads in what are traditionally considered progressive states – CA, CO, NM, maybe OR and WA. Then there are some states that are already rather libertarian, MT, AK, NV, and NH (although the last isn’t western). Its all about focusing on where your message will stick and few positions can be deal breakers to voters. For all of this to really matter however he has to gather in Ron Paul supporters and especially donors without looking like a carbon copy of him to other voters. Hopefully this will be easier after the Republican Convention and the likes of Peter Thiel will start having back-channel discussions with GJ’s people. If all goes well and he’s successful in debates, polling in the 20’s nationwide could land just enough states to throw the election to Congress. If the House remains GOP controlled, it’ll look pretty bad to just hand the election to their candidate (who will undoubtedly not be in 1st), so perhaps GJ will be the “corrupt bargain” compromise selection. It’s not ideal and it’s not likely but we can all dream…
All i know is this country and the shape its in ,cant go on like this,,We need Gary Johnson
Wow, I thought Oklahoma was the toughest ballot to get on. I thought if Gary Johnson was on the ballot in 49 states, it would be Oklahoma that was lacking!
Now do it in Michigan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LNCRegion7/message/56
Re: [LNCRegion7] Ballot Access: TX, OK, LA, MS, AL
“I have talked to the OK election board today, and Gary Johnson is not yet on the ballot. Their legal department is investigating the matter, and may have a decision in a few weeks.
Steve Galpin
Former OKLP Chair”
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