North Dakota Libertarian Party Completes 2014 Petition for Party Status

Posted on by July 22, 2013
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The North Dakota Libertarian Party has completed its petition for party status in the 2014 election, and plans to submit it on July 25. As far as is known, this is the first time any newly-qualifying political party has completed any petition for statewide status in any state for the 2014 election.

No party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, has managed to poll enough votes to remain ballot-qualified in North Dakota since the Reform Party met the vote test in 1996. If the Libertarian Party gets 5% for either Secretary of State or Attorney General in 2014, then it will also be qualified in 2016.

Tom Stevens, Former Pennsylvania Libertarian Party State Chair, May Appear on November 2013 Ballot as the Republican Nominee for New York City Public Advocate

Posted on by July 22, 2013
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Dr. Tom Stevens, who was state chair of the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party during 2012 even though he was a New York state resident, has decided to accept the Republican Party nomination for New York City Public Advocate, if he gets on the ballot. New York city this year elects three partisan citywide offices: Mayor, Comptroller, and Public Advocate. Petitions were submitted for Stevens to appear on the Republican primary ballot for Public Advocate. No petition was submitted for any other Republican candidate, so obviously if Stevens gets on the primary ballot, he will be nominated.

His petition needs 3,750 valid signatures of registered Republicans. The petition submitted for Stevens, which was circulated by persons who did not notify Stevens that the petition was circulating, has 5,200 signatures. A challenge to the validity of his petition has been filed, so it is impossible to know at this point whether the petition will be upheld.

Alabama Libertarians are Petitioning to be on November 2014 Ballot in Alabama’s Largest County

Posted on by July 21, 2013
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The Alabama Libertarian Party is halfway finished with its petition to appear on the ballot in November 2014 in Jefferson County, the state’s most populous county. The petition is to get the party on the ballot; after it has been submitted, then the party can choose nominees by convention. Assuming the petition succeeds, the party will be able to run for state legislative seats that are entirely within the county, and any partisan county offices.

Of course the party would rather complete the petition for statewide status, but that requires 44,829 valid signatures. The Jefferson County petition requires approximately 6,300 valid signatures.

New York Republicans Apparently Recruit a Faux Green Party Candidate for Nassau County Executive

Posted on by July 21, 2013
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According to this Newsday story, the Nassau County Republican organization has recruited a 25-year-old nephew of the head of the county Industrial Development Agency to run for Nassau County Executive this year. The organization carried out a petition drive to place him on the Green Party primary ballot, which required 60 valid signatures of Green Party registrants. The story implies the candidate, Phillipp Negron, was not even registered to vote until three weeks ago. If he had been registered to vote in another party, New York election law would not have permitted him to switch his party registration to the Green Party; he would have to have done that last year. The local Green Party organization had not previously been aware of him.

Republicans hold the office, but the race is expected to be close this year. Of course it does not necessarily follow that voters who vote for a Green Party nominee would have voted Democratic if the Green had not been running. Polls for the special U.S. House election in South Carolina earlier this year showed that a large proportion of the people who said they expected to vote for the Green nominee were people who said they had voted for Mitt Romney for President in November 2012. Thanks to Timothy McKee for the link.