The Libertarian Party may have presidential primaries in as many as sixteen jurisdictions in 2020, which would be more than any party (other than the Democratic and Republican Parties) has ever had. In a few states in the past, though, state Libertarian Parties have declined to have presidential primaries even though they were entitled to them, so it isn’t possible to know now how many Libertarian presidential primaries there will be.
It appears that there could be Libertarian 2020 presidential primaries in Arizona, California, Delaware (although ballot access for candidates is difficult), D.C., Idaho, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah. There is a possibility of one in New Mexico also, if the state agrees that the party is still entitled to a primary. The New Mexico Secretary of State still lists the Libertarian Party in its voter registration statistics. New Mexico also keeps track of the number of registrants in qualified minor parties, but does not display that data on its web page, so the fact that the Secretary has the Libertarian Party in its chart implies that the party is still considered a party entitled to a primary.
How many EGO freaks will be in the LP Prez primaries (esp who would NOT have a chance in the Donkey/Elephant Prez primaries) ???
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Uniform definition of Voter in ALL of the USA
NO primaries
Nominations only by Nom Pets / filing fees
PR and NON-partisan AppV – pending Condorcet
Considering that the Libertarian National Convention will be held from May 22 to May 25, 2020, it would be better if the LP could waive having primaries in states which hold their primaries after those dates. (Montana, New Mexico, and D.C. are all scheduled to hold their primaries after the LP convention.)
LP — NOT thinking.
should have LATE convention — to get an EGO freak [with $$$] NOT happy with Dems/GOP statists.
See Perot 1992 – B. Clinton minority rule regime in 1993-1996
Libertarians are eligible in West Virginia, but have traditionally declined participation. However, I suspect that if their national organization encourages it, they would participate, especially with what looks like twenty five candidates so far.
“See Perot 1992 – B. Clinton minority rule regime in 1993-1996”
Unrelated. Also, ballot access deadlines are being moved earlier. LP should return to nominating the presidential tickets in the odd year before the election, minimizing unlibertarian crossovers and giving the ticket a full year or more to campaign as the nominated ticket with the full support of the party as well as allowing for maximum time to circulate petitions as early as possible in as many states as possible, especially in states which don’t allow substitution, and removing the need for substitution even in those which do.
William T. Forrest, none of the states in which the LP is not on the ballot have made their presidential deadlines worse since 2016. It’s true the Arkansas party petition deadline is worse, but the presidential minor party petition hasn’t changed and is very easy compared to the petition for other office.
In Idaho the party may choose if it wishes to participate in the presidential primary and the Idaho LP has always chosen to not do so.
If I understand New York’s rules correctly, the party may choose there as well but it seems more probable that they will forego a primary.
South Dakota also allows a party to choose if it wishes to have a primary. LPSD did have one in 1996 between Harry Browne and Irwin Schiff but it looks like they have chosen to not have one in more recent elections.
ALL the minor parties should have the same ELECTION REFORMS in their platforms —
Uniform definition of Elector-Voter in ALL of the USA – USA Citizen, 18 plus PERIOD, register 28 days before election day.
ALL paper mail secret ballots.
Ballot access only via Nom pets / filing fees — NOOOO caucuses, primaries and conventions.
PR and AppV – pending Condorcet.
Why would a state party choose not to have a presidential primary? They’re non-binding and encourage interest in the party. Is there a cost involved?
While Oklahoma can hold one, I doubt that anything of value will be gained by it. All of the Oklahoma LP’s national delegates are unbound and can nominate and vote for any candidate they choose at the convention. While a primary might sway some delegates or may be a selling point during nomination at the state convention, it won’t be use for much else.
Holding a primary will cause the results to be reported in the media and will allow campaigns to generate interest and support. Because at least one of the two establishment parties will be having a presidential primary anyway the only cost of also having one for the OKLP would be the printing of ballots which would be more than covered by the filing fees of our participating candidates, so we wouldn’t be costing taxpayers any money. If the primary is open to Independents then the opportunity is even greater. Failing to have a presidential primary would be a tremendous missed opportunity.
On another note, why isn’t Indiana listed as a state that could have a primary? The LPIN retained recognition in 2018 and Indiana doesn’t differentiate between major and minor parties.
I agree with Chris and Jim – if a state Libertarian Party is able to hold a primary, they would do well to do so. It’s more visibility for the party and the ideas for which it stands.
Also agree with William that the Libertarian Party should hold its presidential nominating conventions earlier in the cycle, for the reasons he mentions. There is one possible downside though, which is that if a whole bunch of Libertarians are campaigning for president, they may collectively generate more visibility for the party and exposure for libertarian ideas than would be generated by a single nominee.
One way to somewhat address or ameliorate this issue could be by the LP electing, along with candidates for president and VP, a “shadow cabinet” who would campaign in support of those nominees while focusing on their specific policy areas and dogging their incumbent counterparts in the actual cabinet.
This would require amending the party’s bylaws to put into effect. Nomination of shadow cabinet members could serve as the party’s official instruction to the presidential candidate on whom to select for those posts if elected.
Delaware only allows primaries for “major parties”, defined as parties with over 5% of the state’s registered voters as registered Libertarian. We’re a long ways off from that. It’s theoretically possible, but VERY unlikely.