Oklahoma Libertarian Party Votes to Limit Primary Voters Only to Registered Libertarians

Posted on by October 8, 2017
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On October 7, the Oklahoma Libertarian Party held a state convention and voted that in 2018, only registered Libertarians will be able to vote in the Libertarian primary. It is likely that three individuals will seek the party’s gubernatorial nomination in 2018, and the majority of the convention delegates are eager that the voters in the Libertarian primary be well-informed about their choices.

Generally, newspapers don’t do a very good job of covering contested minor party primaries. Most of the delegates believed that the candidates for the gubernatorial nomination would be able to communicate meaningfully with the registered Libertarians during the primary season, because there are only about 5,000 of them. But it would be prohibitively expensive to communicate with the 300,000 independents. The primary will be June 26, 2018.

Also, in case any Libertarian candidate wishes to sue to overturn the new law on petitions in lieu of the filing fee, having a closed primary will make it easier to win that case. This year, the legislature changed the petition in lieu of filing law, so that the number of signatures is based on all the registered voters, instead of the number of eligible primary voters.

Mainstream North Carolina Press Doesn’t Inform Voters of the Historic Importance of the Ballot Access Bill

Posted on by October 7, 2017
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As noted previously, on October 5, the North Carolina legislature passed SB 656, which substantially reduces ballot access restrictions for newly-qualifying parties, and also significantly improves ballot access for independent candidates. This AP story is the only one I have found that mentions this development. No one knows if the bill will be vetoed, and the story mentions that. But the story treats the ballot access part of the bill in a very casual way, merely devoting a single sentence to the fact that the bill eases ballot access.

The bill’s ballot access provisions are historic. In 1983 the North Carolina legislature made it extremely difficult for newly-qualifying parties to get on the ballot, by raising the number of signatures from exactly 5,000, to 2% of the last gubernatorial vote, which even back then was an eight-fold increase.

Bills to restore easier ballot access were introduced in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015, but none of them passed. Yet the 2017 bill did pass.

North Carolina ballot access currently is not only bad; it is horrible. North Carolina requires a higher percentage of the electorate for a petition to get on the ballot for president (using the easier method in each state) than any other state. This has been true ever since Oklahoma eased its procedures in 2016 and 2017. It would be very useful if activists in North Carolina would inform daily newspapers, and broadcast media stations, of these facts. Anyone who wishes to be sent a chart showing that North Carolina’s percentage, for president, is the highest in the nation, should e-mail Richard Winger at richardwinger@yahoo.com, or phone 415-922-9779. The Governor must act by October 15 so time is short.