The Libertarian Party has been placing its presidential nominee on the ballot in all states, or almost all states, ever since 1988. In order to achieve this, the party has traditionally done a considerable amount of petitioning in the odd year before the presidential election. However, so far, in 2019, the party’s petitioning efforts have been smaller than in 2015 and 2011.
In 2011, by mid-September, the party had finished its Arkansas and Maryland petition drives, and was well on the way with its New Hampshire party petition.
In 2015, by mid-September, the party had finished its Arkansas drive, and was mostly finished with its Maine registration drive. It had also made a significant start on its Oklahoma and South Dakota petitions.
In 2019, so far, the party has finished its Arkansas drive, and is virtually finished with its North Dakota drive. But it has not made significant progress on other drives. Maryland has a petition drive using only unpaid volunteers. Maine has a registration drive using only unpaid volunteers. The party could be doing its Alaska registration drive, but it is not. As to New Hampshire, in the years since 2011, the legislature has made it illegal for a party petition to be circulated in the odd year before an election year, so that explains why no New Hampshire petitioning is occurring in 2019.
I did some figuring, and I think if the LP finds the money to do Alabama and Maryland this year, the amount the national party would have to spend next year to get to all 50 states and DC would be less than $100,000. That certainly would be a record low for a presidential election year!!
EQUAL in 14-1
should be ZERO $$$ spent by national party — except to pay for a lawyer with some 14-1 EQUAL brain cells
— to get MANY SCOTUS ballot access ops since 1968 OVER-ruled.
.
INDIVIDUAL candidates are on ballots – NOT *parties*.
Separate is NOT equal – 1954 Brown v Bd of Ed
Each election is N-E-W.
EQUAL ballot access tests for ALL such INDIVIDUAL candidates for the same office in the same election area.
Ballot access AIN’T atomic physics and 4+Dimensional math.
Well, I’ve never been accused of being an “atomic physicist and mathematician” before–thanks, Demo Rep!
Wouldn’t the relative lack of activity this year be in part a function of how much ballot access the LP already has? That’s not to say that if there is more that they could be doing now, they should be, but I would expect less activity this year compared to 2015, given the state of their ballot access already.
I wonder if the party is putting too much stock in winning pending litigation. In Maryland, for example, they need (I believe) 10K valid signatures. They are suing to overturn that law, but I have to wonder if it is a good idea to be banking entirely on winning that particular case. As I recall, courts considering the Maryland law haven’t been sympathetic to the LP. In terms of petition opportunities, one of the larger gatherings in Maryland is the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair. I attend that every year. This year, I didn’t see an LP booth (though the Republicans were there). I’m sure they could have gotten a lot of petition signatures there if they had a physical presence.
Other than New Hampshire, are there states where the petition drive isn’t allowed to start until next year? Illinois and Pennsylvania come immediately to mind.
How many $$$ spent by the USA LP for ballot access stuff since 1970 ???
By other minor parties ???
By independents ???
By byzantine lawyers to keep the UNEQUAL mess going ???
What pct of GDP for nonstop ballot access cases, UNEQUAL laws, UNEQUAL regs, etc. ???
ALL INSANE / MINDLESS/ MORONIC stuff – since 1888 and *official* ballots – a mere 131 years.
What do you think the total cost would be? Less than $250,000? The LP spent between $760,000 and $840,000 for the 2016 cycle. I knew we were better positioned, but I didn’t think it was THAT much better.
BAN monthly [a MAJOR effort] often has updates of ballot access of the LP and other larger minor parties.
Subscribe NOW — see how rotted political things are monthly.
States in which the Libertarian Party is not ballot-qualified for president, and in which the party can’t be petitioning now, are Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. It wouldn’t be practical or sensible for the party to be petitioning in Iowa or New Jersey because the number of signatures is so low and it is simpler to wait until the presidential nominee is known. In Alabama, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Tennessee, the party could theoretically be doing the party petition now, but the party petition is so much more difficult than the candidate petition that the candidate petition is the more practical option (especially since in Minnesota and Rhode Island the independent procedure permits the partisan label).
The LP will need $25,000 valid signatures in Illinois next year. Just for a rough estimate, let’s say they pay for 40,000 at $3 a signature, which comes out to $120,000, and this would assume the volunteers bring in say 3,000-5,000 more signatures. Now it is possible that the LP of IL will kick in half for this, so that would mean $60,000 from the LP of IL, plus $60,000 from LP National. This is of course an estimate, and if anything, it is likely too low.
Lawsuits are pending in Maine and Maryland, so we don’t know if the LP will have to do anything in these states.
Pennsylvania Will need 5,000 valid (for statewide candidates), which is much lower than in the past. This is due to a judges ruling in a court case, however, it is possible that the PA legislature could at some point pass a new ballot access law that could increase, but it looks like that probably won’t happen for tgis election. The LP of PA will likely pay for this, plus get some volunteer sigs.
Virginia needs 5,000 sigs for the presidential ticket. This Will likely be handled by LP of VA.
Alabama has a really diffi ult requirement for party status, and it also has an easier requirement for independent presidential tickets of 5,000 sigs. The LNC will likely pay for this, so let’s say 8,500 raw sigs at $3, which comes out to $25,500.
Rhode Island Will likely just do the presidential petition, which is only 1,000 valid sigs. The LNC Will probably pay for it. So let’s say they pay for 1,600 sigs at $3, which comes out to $4,800.
New Hampshire needs 3,000 valid signatures, but it is a deceptively difficult state. The last time, the LP had to pay $5 a signature, plus expenses (motels, travel, and rental car), and UT came out to like $9 a signature. Part of this was due to gross mismanagement from the LNC, but even so, it coukd still easily cost $5 a signature. So say they turn in 5,000 signatures, that is $25,000.
I think the LP lost ballot access in Wisconsin, which takes 10,000 sigs to regain. WI also has a presidential only petition which is 2,000 sigs. Let’s say the LNC pays for 3,000 at $3, that is $9,000.
Tennessee has an independent presidential candidate petition which is only 275 sigs. LP of TN should handle this with volunteers.
Iowa requires 1,500 sigs for a presidential ticket, and Minnesota requires 2,000 for a presidential ticket, and New Jersey requires 800 sigs for a presidential ticket.
I may have missed a state above, like Alaska, but that is a pretty good synopsis of what the LP needs for presidential ballot access for 2020 (figures differ for other offices in several states).
I just hope that the LP nominates actual libertarians to be on its presidential ticket this time, instead of nominating LINOs (Libertarians In Name Only), like it has in the last three presidential elections.
Also, since the LP needs less signatures to ensure ballot access for its presidential ticket than in any other election so far, it would be nice to see all, or at least most, of the work be done by actual Libertarians this time, instead of funneling most of it out (unnecessarily) to non-libertarian mercenaries, either hired off the street, or out of the mercenary petitioning circuit. A lot of these people misrepresent petitions (as in they lie to get signatures), and/or they get low validity, and they don’t do any outreach beyond doing the bear minimum to get people to sign. These are also people who gleefully work on anti-liberty causes, like Top Two Primary, gun control, or tax increases, so it is pretty sick how the LP rewards people like this, and sends them out into the field to represent the party to the public. I even know of some cases where the LP had alcoholics (like in South Dakota several years ago) and homeless bums out with clipboards and pens. Great way to represent the party to the public…NOT! I did an analysis of how the LNC spent its ballot access funds for 2012, and I found that at least 76% of the LNC’s ballot access budget went to non-libertarian mercenaries. What’s the matter? The Libertarian Party is supposed to be a national movement, and the 3rd largest political party, yet it can’t, or won’t, find more actual libertarian activists to represent the Libertarian Party to the public during ballot access drives? How do they find libertarians to work at the National office? It is no wonder that the party is not more successful.
The above amounts are all estimates. The costs could be higher or lower, depending upon various factors. My guess would be higher if anything.
Cost to do ONE PROPER/CORRECT 14-1 EQUAL case — up to SCOTUS ???
Jim: I thought the money spent by the national party in 2020 for ballot access could be as low as $60,000. Please remember that figure is predicated on the spending of $80,000 to $100,000 this year in Alabama and Maryland–places where we can and should be petitioning.
I figured $16,000 from the national party to Illinois. Illinois LP did 18000 volunteer sigs in 2016 and paid for the rest themselves.
Maine: The national party will almost certainly have to pay for all 7000 gross sigs. Let’s say, $21,000.
Virginia and Pennsylvania should be able to lift themselves up by their own ballot access bootstraps, as well as the other states that are left that are generally 2000 valid sigs or less (IA, NJ, MN, RI, TN, WA, WI).
I also believe New Hampshire and Alaska can take care of themselves next year as well.
Where does the other $27000 of my $60,000 budget go to? Well, we know there will be a ballot access crisis in 2020–we just don’t know where, but with all these “small requirement” states, it won’t be so financially devastating.
Andy —
LP folks bit adverse to *risky* circulation areas —
1. Urban ghetto areas with adverse RED commies
2. Rural areas with adverse BLUE fascists
3. Suburban areas with both adverse commies and fascists.
—-
Individual candidate nom petits — by 4.25 x 5.5 forms in newspapers, internet, etc. –
I nominate [John Doe, 1 Main St, Burgville] of the [LP] for [office] at [date] general election
Voter Sig, name, address, date signed
Return address [Return address]
TomP: I have learned there are four equal fronts in ballot access. Petitioning (signature gathering), Lobbying (the legislature), Legal (in the courts) and PR (we need to inform the public about what is going on here).
So I think I’m glad to see the ongoing effort to fight on this legal front, especially in Maryland and Maine. And though I would agree with you about not putting too much stock on any one front, I also believe from experience that we should always try to keep our fate in our own hands by petitioning, even if it means a disproportional use of resources into signatures gathering (as, I guess, we always have–but those days are coming to a close).
On the other hand, I try to remember that sometimes, lawsuits are better than ballot drives.
But we can’t ignore the glorious victory we just had in the courts in Arkansas (combined, of course, with our petitioning soldiers).
The LP has an interesting dilemma that other third parties don’t have. The party has become consistently effective at getting ballot position in most states without being able to field strong candidates from its own membership. Thus, it is constantly temped to run Republican ex-office holders who offer themselves when no strong LP member is available as a candidate. This has been going on ever since the party nominated Roger MacBride in 1976.
WZ –
Some Elephant incentive to blast/PURGE the LP and LP candidates OFF the ballots — since 1970 ??? Duh.
Scott, you were included on an email about getting Alabama going. You are welcome to email back if you would seriously likely to help. Otherwise, we’ll need to wait for the presidential candidates to be nominated and put them on as independents like in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. It’s about 52,000 valid if you want to start now or 5,000 valid if we wait til after Memorial Day.
LNC will probably help with the second. They won’t even consider helping with the first. Bill can fill you in about LNC financials if he has not already.
“LP folks bit adverse to *risky* circulation areas —”
Nope, we go to all of the above. Really, you should have a clue about what you are talking about before you opine. It would help.
Scott, you are way too optimistic about petition costs right now or the state of the LP volunteer base when it comes to running petition drives. At least you are not clueless like some other people ere but maybe a decade or two behind recent developments.
Paul
What planet are you on ???
ALL third parties are deemed extremists by the moron mass media — controlled by the duopoly hacks.
Many urban areas = DEATH traps for targets on street corners / going door to door – get guns pointed at you – What in hell are you doing on my porch ???
Local area – lost folks often get shot by building residents – presumed home invaders.
—
Individual candidate nom petits — by 4.25 x 5.5 forms in newspapers, internet, etc.
Demo Rep, please share the news story on the alternative party activist killed while petitioning. I’d be interested to see it.
Unless some major donors step forward who are willing to donate to the project, which I seriously doubt will happen, I do not see anyway the LP of Alabama is going to complete the 52,000 and something petition drive for party status. If there was any decent chance for this to happen, it should have started awhile ago. The cost for this could easily go well over $100,000, and unfortunately, the LP is not in good enough shape to handle that at the moment.
They will almost certainly end up putting the presidential ticket on as independents, which is 5,000 valid signatures, and they can’t start until after the 2020 convention, which is around the end of may.
The independent deadline for President in Alabama was September 6th, but the deadline was changed to August 18th. I believe this was done with the intention of making it less likely that petition circulators will be able to collect a significant amount of signatures at colleges, because the colleges in AL start their regular semester on August 18th. Colleges are usually good places to get signatures, especially in states where most of the stores/shopping centers won’t let you collect signatures, and the police will run you out of those places if you try (this is the case in most of the country). It is also very hot and humid in the summer in Alabama, and this makes the signature gathering more difficult.
Walter, I do not think that the LP’s ballot access has as much to do with the party running former elected Republicans for President as you think.
Andre Marrou got on the ballot in all 50 states, plus DC in 1992, and Harry Browne did the same in 1996, and neither were former elected Republicans. Browne was on in 49 states, plus DC in 2000, due to a split in the LP of Arizona, which led to them putting a different presidential candidate on the ballot. Michael Badnarik made the ballot in 49 states plus DC.
Bob Barr was a former elected Republican, yet he only made the ballot in 45 states in 2008. Gary Johnson was a former elected Republican, yet he only made the ballot in 48 states, plus DC, in 2012.
Running former Republicans does not ensure 50 state plus DC ballot access.
Whoops. I made a mustake above. Michael Badnarik was actually on the ballot in 48 states, plus DC.
If anyone wants to see how much the LP spent on ballot access for 2016, look up the 2016 year end LNC ballot access report, as it does a good job of breaking down how much the LNC, state parties, and/or the presidential ticket spent in each state, and it comes up with an approximate cost per signature (including additional expenses, such as places where travel and motel money was paid out for petitioners) for each state. It was actually my idea to include this, and some of the other information in this report, as I suggested this to the LNC Ballot Access Chair, Ken Moellman, and he implemented it (I did not write any of the report, I just mDe some suggestions as to what should be in the report). Several people said that this report was the best ballot access report in the history of the party, and I agree with this.
@ Andy You miss my point. It’s NOT about running ex-Republican office holders to get ballot status. The party usually HAS ballot status anyway. What they don’t always have are candidates from their own membership who can rise up to the level of a national campaign. So, if a reasonably decent ex-Republican offers himself for the nomination, he often gets it.
This depends upon what you meaning by rising up to the level of a national campaign.
I think a more accurate statement, is that although the Libertarian Party is strong enough to get ballot access in all, or at least most, of the country, it is enticing for people from outside the party to want to use the party for ballot access, including those who do not really believe in the party’s principles, and that the party is generally not strong enough to stop them, not to mention that there are people in the party who willfully aide the unprincipled interlopers.
The Libertarian Party also does a poor job of building up its own people and making them into stars. This is in part due to some people in the LP being too obsessed with “Shiny Badge” candidates from other parties. This would not be quite so bad if all of the “Shiny Badge” candudates had strong libertarian principles, but most of them do not.
“Paul
What planet are you on ???”
Earth, unlike you.
“ALL third parties are deemed extremists by the moron mass media — controlled by the duopoly hacks.”
So what?
“Many urban areas = DEATH traps for targets on street corners / going door to door – get guns pointed at you – What in hell are you doing on my porch ???”
Nothing. I generally go to public places, not people’s porches, and you should stop believing everything you see on TV. I’ve spent much of my life living and working in the “worst” neighborhoods in urban areas and have petitioned in them many thousands of times. Never had anyone point a gun at me. I’ve only once had anyone point a gun at anyone on my petition team, and it was over 20 years ago going door to door. It was not in a “bad” neighborhood BTW, actually a fairly well off middle class neighborhood in Montgomery, AL. The homeowner was apparently, or claimed to be, a former or current FBI agent.
Notwithstanding that incident, I and many people I know have petitioned with no such problems in every kind of neighborhood many, many times. How many times and places have you petitioned? How recently?
“Local area – lost folks often get shot by building residents – presumed home invaders.”
Propaganda BS. Besides petitioning I have lived in these same kinds of neighborhoods you are talking about many times, many years. What you are saying is simply not true. It’s a ridiculous exaggeration. Even in the case I referenced, no one was killed or even shot at and the firearm in question was not discharged, only brandished. The volunteer did get scared and did not petition again, but no one was hurt, injured, or put in any serious risk. He did get ordered off the property and left promptly as asked. Want to not get shot for breaking into someone’s house? Don’t go inside unless invited, and you will almost certainly be OK. In any kind of neighborhood.
Please stop spreading alarmist propaganda BS and nonsense and doubling down when you are asked to get a clue before you opine.