Did Jacob Hornberger Rig the New York Libertarian Primary? | Libertarian Republic - David Howman:
April 1, 2020 - "At the beginning of March, controversy arose in the Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY) after it was announced that, out of the eight qualified candidates for the 2020 Libertarian presidential nomination, seven of them were being kicked off the ballot. The one candidate who remained: Jacob Hornberger.
"While all primaries in the Libertarian Party are, by rule, non-binding when it comes to selecting delegates – the presidential and vice presidential nominees are chosen individually at the national convention by the unbound delegates – the LPNY primary is unique in that the winner gets to select 27 of the state’s 48 allotted delegates to send to the national convention.
"And since the removal of seven candidates left just Hornberger on the ballot, and with no option to vote for everybody’s favorite libertarian NOTA, the New York State Board of Elections (NYS BOE) canceled the primary and declared Hornberger the winner by default.... So now Hornberger gets to choose 27 delegates to send to the national convention....
"Not surprisingly, some rumors and conspiracy theories have popped up as a result.... Jake Porter, Hornberger’s campaign manager, published a statement on his Facebook page:
"NYS BOE site’s requirements for ballot access state that 'a presidential candidate must file a complete slate of delegates with the State Board of Elections' by February 25, 2020. According to the NYS BOE’s public filing records, the only candidate who did not file on or prior to February 25 was Hornberger, whose paperwork was reported to have been filed a day late....
"Ken Armstrong ... filed an injunction that would require the NYS BOE to put his name back on the ballot.... However, ... the Albany Supreme Court ruled on March 30 that Armstrong would not be added to the ballot.... Armstrong decided not to appeal ... after the state of New York postponed all primaries until June 23 ... a month after the national convention....
"As for the rumors of the Hornberger campaign rigging the primary, there seems to be no concrete evidence to support that. When I asked Porter about it, he had this to say: 'We know of no one who attempted to get any candidate kicked off the ballot. We didn’t ask, request, hint, or instruct anyone in any way to attempt to get any candidate removed from the ballot. Additionally, we did not personally ask to get anyone removed from the ballot.'"
April 1, 2020 - "At the beginning of March, controversy arose in the Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY) after it was announced that, out of the eight qualified candidates for the 2020 Libertarian presidential nomination, seven of them were being kicked off the ballot. The one candidate who remained: Jacob Hornberger.
"While all primaries in the Libertarian Party are, by rule, non-binding when it comes to selecting delegates – the presidential and vice presidential nominees are chosen individually at the national convention by the unbound delegates – the LPNY primary is unique in that the winner gets to select 27 of the state’s 48 allotted delegates to send to the national convention.
"And since the removal of seven candidates left just Hornberger on the ballot, and with no option to vote for everybody’s favorite libertarian NOTA, the New York State Board of Elections (NYS BOE) canceled the primary and declared Hornberger the winner by default.... So now Hornberger gets to choose 27 delegates to send to the national convention....
"Not surprisingly, some rumors and conspiracy theories have popped up as a result.... Jake Porter, Hornberger’s campaign manager, published a statement on his Facebook page:
'People love to start conspiracy theories. The Hornberger campaign did not file any lawsuits, challenges, or paperwork to keep any other candidate off the New York Libertarian Primary ballot. It would be a better use of time to ask the New York Board of Elections or the campaigns themselves why their filings were rejected'...."According to the NYS BOE website, ... candidates can qualify for the ballot in one of three ways: 1) by being certified as eligible for matching funds; 2) being a nationally known and recognized candidate, as determined by the NYS BOE; or 3) collecting signatures equal to 5% of all registered Libertarians in New York. As far as I was able to discern, each candidate submitted their request for ballot access under the claim that they were a nationally known and recognized candidate. According to [Cattaraugus County LP Chair Luke] Wenke, 'Many of these candidates really aren’t "nationally known" quite frankly but the Board of Elections originally let that slide for many of these campaigns and sent them all letters saying they were accepted onto the ballot'....
"NYS BOE site’s requirements for ballot access state that 'a presidential candidate must file a complete slate of delegates with the State Board of Elections' by February 25, 2020. According to the NYS BOE’s public filing records, the only candidate who did not file on or prior to February 25 was Hornberger, whose paperwork was reported to have been filed a day late....
"Ken Armstrong ... filed an injunction that would require the NYS BOE to put his name back on the ballot.... However, ... the Albany Supreme Court ruled on March 30 that Armstrong would not be added to the ballot.... Armstrong decided not to appeal ... after the state of New York postponed all primaries until June 23 ... a month after the national convention....
"As for the rumors of the Hornberger campaign rigging the primary, there seems to be no concrete evidence to support that. When I asked Porter about it, he had this to say: 'We know of no one who attempted to get any candidate kicked off the ballot. We didn’t ask, request, hint, or instruct anyone in any way to attempt to get any candidate removed from the ballot. Additionally, we did not personally ask to get anyone removed from the ballot.'"
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