August 2 was primary day in Tennessee for federal and state office, and it was also general election day for county office. Some Tennessee counties use partisan elections for their own elections, and some use non-partisan election. Montgomery County uses partisan elections for county office. A Libertarian, Joshua Beale, was elected County Commissioner in Montgomery County district 14. He defeated his only opponent, a Republican, by 54.8%-45.2%. This is believed to be the first partisan election in Tennessee in which a minor party member was elected since 1974, when American Party State Senator William J. Davis was re-elected. Both Beale (in 2018) and Davis (in 1974) were on the ballot with the label “independent”, because in both cases their party was not a ballot-qualified party, and Tennessee won’t permit party labels for unqualified parties.
Also on August 2, two Libertarians won county office in non-partisan races. Stephen Chambers was elected Trousdale County Mayor in a two-person race, defeating the incumbent, by 54.4%-45.6%. Erika Ebel, wife of the state chair of the Tennessee Libertarian Party, was elected County Commissioner in Smith County, district four. Four candidates were on the ballot, with the top three to be elected. Ebel placed third with 211 votes. The other candidates received 296, 232, and 194 votes.
The Libertarian Party is a pluralist party boss system and that means they are only interested in working with Libertarians.
Their speaking engagements consist of talking about themselves, to themselves, about how they are so much better than everyone else and so everyone else is promptly deleted from their facebook pages, their meetings and debates because the Libertarians aren’t interested.
Now us voters feel the same way about them, and the voters don’t want to hear about the Libertarians, no more about Libertarianism.
Let’s clarify that the Libertarians will make it clear at every opportunity, that no one else need speak or join them unless they pay them dues and switch to their brand.
That’s the policy set top down by the party bosses that only the insiders (or NOTA) are to be chosen by their bosses. The rest of the voters need not attend their meetings. They will be snuffed out when they try to engage with then, and when they do win their election fairly, only the pluralist party bosses will decide because the bosses have a grip with steal fists on all involved.
Are you interested in a voting system where all people are welcomed, all people’s liberty to self-categorize as they wish without penalty, all people get equal respect without bias, and not just hypercrits proclaiming to be for liberty?
You might be interested in pure proportional representation (PPR).
Individuals from all parties and independents have been using PPR successfully for more than twenty-three consecutive years and PPR works perfectly fine.
That’s why PPR is sweeping the world despite the bully pluralists who can do nothing but bring hostility and dysfunction into the conversation, while is proportionalists, do all the work to sustain the new United Coalition on multiple geo-levels simultaneously.
http://www.international-parliament.org/ucc.html
I hope the three libertarian winners use their new office and high-profile platform to expose the state’s harsh discriminatory ballot-access law that prevents the libs (and other political minorities) from simply running under their preferred label — akin to truth-in-(political)labeling.
The national Libertarian and Green Parties bring us division year after year as seen by the Gary Johnson and Jill Stein campaigns, two repeat candidates who couldn’t unite the two parties.
More segregation and division by both parties while no effort for unity is ever made over and over again, year after year.
And the party bosses can only snuff out, delete and censor the United Coalition USA.
http://www.international-parliament.org/ucc-p7-usa.html
The Libertarian Party needs to look in the mirror and see the failure they bring to themselves before they try to bring attention to the TN election laws.
Bashing the LP and other minor parties because they ignore/dismiss your little US parliament group isn’t going to help it grow, James.
I was formerly sympathetic to your group, now you can forget it.
SORRY — NO unity for Libertarians with the statist control freak KILLER MONSTERS in the Donkey and Elephant parties and the control freaks in smaller left/right delusional/utopian parties.
Has 1 Libertarian in 10,000 heard about the United Coalition USA (with its ever changing names – esp internet website names/URLS) ???
America is a melting pot of diverse people and we do not welcome the segregation being brought by plurality voting, it is a violation of civil rights and our team can bring the protection of these rights, not by rhetoric, but by concrete accomplishments and votes under pure proportional representation (PPR).
Only concrete progress for the team with votes cast under RCV in multiple winner districts is needed to be discussed because all rhetoric protecting the plurality psychogy is degrading and a waste of our time.
Bring your team, bring your cooperation under PPR and turn your back on segregation and slander to the 100%.
Bring progress or keep quiet.
As Eli Israel, the former chairman of the Massachusetts Libertarian Party used to say: “Dogs don’t bark at tombstones.”
James, I got a question for you. How do you feel about Fusion Voting? Do you think third parties should follow what the Working Families has done in the past by starting to have a huge impact on states with Fusion Voting or not? Maybe you should run for public office and promote electoral reform?
Fusion voting is not pure proportional representation (PPR) so the team prohibits fusion voting.
Yes, the One Party POTUS candidates want to unite with everyone under PPR, paper ballots, transparency and mathematical unity by ranked choice voting.
Isn’t there a 4th libertarian winner?
“Pure Proportional Representation (PPR)” means that everyone’s power in a legislature is determined by how many votes they get, not everyone getting the same. I guess you aren’t for “PURE” proportional representation (PPR), merely “sort of” proportional representation (SoPR)
Also, do you see a secret cabal behind every corner? Do you think that everyone with a different opinion should “shut up” cause this is all sounding less like democracy and more like fascism.
Basic P.R. — CIRCA 95-99 PERCENT ACCURATE
Party Members = Party Votes x Total Members / Total Votes
—
EXACT P.R. 100 PERCENT ACCURATE
Party Members = Party Votes
BUT WOULD NEED E-VOTING IN LEGISLATIVE BODIES FOR QUICK RESULTS
—
BOTH — LOSER VOTES GET MOVED TO WINNERS
IE HOW ABOUT 3 MEMBER LEGISLATIVE BODIES
— MORE OR LESS CONTROL FREAK STATISM ???
HOW BIG A LEGISLATIVE BODY BEFORE MOB SCENES ???
IE — NEED BINOCS TO SEE SPEAKER.
SEE 1933 GERMANY REICHSTAG WITH HITLER ???
STALIN MEETINGS ???
MAO MEETINGS ???
NOW PUTIN RUSSIA AND KIM NK MEETINGS ???
@DR,
In the Texas House, votes are already electronic.
Candidates would be limited to the area they could run in. Assuming a 215 member Michigan legislature (unicameral, size by cube root rule), single-member districts would be 45,973 persons – but instead candidates could run in areas of their choosing that are twice as populous. If a candidate received 100% of the vote, he would have about 2/215 of the total voting strength.
215 members would have speaking and committee rights. They would be chosen by all members.
Your method assumes that party representatives are identical and interchangeable.
I love how James is terrified that libertarians are going to start picking up more, he isn’t the only one though, him bashing the LP with weak “points” is a gods sign, it shows that the LP is gaining traction #LP2018