Gary Johnson Full-Page Ad in New York Times on Debates

Posted on by September 14, 2016
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The September 14 New York Times print edition contains a full-page ad from the Gary Johnson-Bill Weld presidential campaign, subtitled, “An Open Letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates.” It points out that polls show 62% of the public want the Libertarian ticket in the debates.

The ad also suggests that if the Commission will relax the 15% rule for the first debate, and allow three podiums, then Johnson and Weld will accede to being excluded from the later debates if they still aren’t at 15% in polls taken after the first debate.

An alternate would be to provide four podiums for the first debate, and then apply that same principle to all four of the presidential candidates who had participated in the first debate.

Montana Republican Party State Chair Loses Bid to Remove Libertarian from Ballot

Posted on by September 14, 2016
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On September 13, the Montana Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that Roger Roots should remain on the ballot as the Libertarian Party nominee for Secretary of State. Essmann v State, 16-0522. The state chair of the Republican Party had sued the Secretary of State to force her to remove Roots. Jeff Essmann charged that Roots had not filed one particular campaign finance report and had been late with another report.

The Court found that Roots had filed all needed documents, and one had got lost after he filed it with the state, although it was found again. The court agreed that Roots had been late with another document, but ruled the punishment for being late is a fine, not removal from the ballot. Thanks to Mike Fellows for this news.

Arizona Finishes Counting Write-ins in August 30 Primary; Greens Are Allowed to Nominate for U.S. Senate with 238 Write-ins, but Libertarians Are Not Allowed Despite Receiving 1,286 Write-Ins

Posted on by September 13, 2016
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On September 13, the Arizona Secretary of State’s office issued official election returns for the August 30 primary for the Democratic, Green, Libertarian, and Republican primaries. No one appeared on the primary ballots of the Green Party and the Libertarian Party for U.S. Senate. But both parties had a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate and various other offices.

The Green Party declared write-in candidate in the Green primary for U.S. Senate, Gary Swing, received 238 write-ins. Under the law, he is the nominee and his name will be printed on the November ballot for U.S. Senate. But the Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate, Merissa Hamilton, received 1,286 write-ins in the Libertarian primary, and she will not be allowed to be on the November ballot. Libertarians for statewide office this year needed approximately 4,000 write-ins to be nominated, but Greens only needed one write-in.

The law treats “new” parties differently than “old” parties. The Green Party is considered “new” because it last did its party petition in the period June 2013-May 2014. The Libertarian Party has not had to do a party petition since 1992, because it remains on by keeping its registration above two-thirds of 1%. The Libertarian Party is currently in court, arguing against the minimum number of write-ins needed to nominate in the party’s own primary. The law penalizes minor parties for being successful in their voter registration efforts. Thanks to Bob Johnston for the link.

For Third Election in a Row, Georgia Democratic Party Doesn’t Fill the Statewide Ticket

Posted on by September 13, 2016
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The statewide offices up in Georgia this year are President, U.S. Senate, and Public Service Commission. For the third election in a row, the Public Service Commission race will have just a Republican and a Libertarian on the ballot.

In 2014 the Libertarian nominee for this office, John Monds, polled 710,408 votes, 31.67% of the vote. He carried DeKalb, Fayette, and Hancock Counties.

In 2012 the Libertarian nominee for this office, David Staples, polled 1,095,115 votes, 34.17% of the vote. He carried Clayton, DeKalb, and Hancock Counties.

Also, in 2008, there was a Public Service Commission race between just a Republican and a Libertarian. The Libertarian, Monds, polled 1,076,760 votes, 33.40%.

As more of these results accumulate, the state’s policy that the Libertarian Party does not have enough support to be on the ballot for U.S. House, state legislature, and county office, becomes more and more absurd. Libertarians who want to run for those office must each submit a petition of 5% of the registered voters, something so difficult that no minor party has done it for the Georgia legislature since 2004, and that no minor party has ever done for U.S. house in the history of the law, which is 73 years old.

The 2016 Public Service Commission race is between Republican Tim Echols and Libertarian Eric Hoskins. In the U.S. House races this year, four of the fourteen have only one candidate on the ballot.