Judge puts Libertarians on POTUS ballot in Illinois

Libertarian Party Wins COVID-19-Related Lawsuit Over Ballot Access in Illinois | Reason - Brian Doherty:

April 22, 2020 - "A judge in Illinois yesterday paved the way for the Libertarian Party (L.P.) to actually get on the ballot in her state after COVID-19 made traditional petitioning to gather signatures for ballot access impossible. Richard Winger reports in the indispensable Ballot Access News that Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, in an as-yet-unwritten opinion in the case of Libertarian Party of Illinois v. Pritzker, decided that if a third party was on the ballot in 2016 or 2018 for an office, it can be on the ballot again this year with no petition signatures required. For the L.P., this includes the presidential and Senate ballot slots.

"For other legislative seats, candidates will only need to collect 10 percent of the normal requirement this year (which will mean 2,500 required instead of 25,000). The previous deadline for the petitions of June 22 has also been pushed back to August 7. The petitions can also be collected via e-signed electronic documents (although 'the candidate or party must then print out the results and transport a piece of paper to election officials.')

"L.P. national chair Nicholas Sarwark says no longer needing to collect a huge number of Illinois signatures is a 'big story' for the L.P. Actually meeting the original Illinois requirements with COVID-19 would have been an 'impossible dream,' but with this legal win behind them, he's confident similar arguments, either made inside or outside formal lawsuits, can be expected to win over other judges or state officials....

"The L.P. is facing COVID-19-related ballot access problems in many states, with traditional petitioning methods essentially illegal or impossibly difficult. (Ballotpedia is keeping a running tally of every election law or requirement change that COVID-19 is inspiring.)

"The L.P. as of today is on 36 ballots (plus the District of Columbia), and involved in active lawsuits against Maine, Georgia, Maryland, and Connecticut over ballot access issues (though not all of them are strictly about COVID-19-related problems).

"The L.P. would prefer to get concessions on impossible signature rules via negotiation, not lawsuits, and its members are in discussions with many states about these issues. However, L.P. Executive Director Daniel Fishman says some states, such as Alabama, have so far ignored their communications."

Read more: https://reason.com/2020/04/22/libertarian-party-wins-covid-19-related-lawsuit-over-ballot-access-in-illinois/

LP will 'sue everywhere' to keep ballot status, vows executive director

Will the Pandemic Keep Third Parties Off the 2020 Ballot? | Politico - Bill Scher:

April 19, 2020 - "In 2016, the Libertarian Party was on the general election ballot in all 50 states; this year, it has secured ballot access in just 35. Similarly, the Green Party ... has qualified for the November ballot in only 22 states.... At present, neither the Libertarian Party nor the Green Party has qualified for the ballot in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Iowa or Minnesota....

"To get on the ballot in the remaining states, they need to collect and submit petition signatures.... But because of the deadly coronavirus — and the social distancing and stay-at-home orders to minimize its spread — after March 6, 'petitioning was over in the United States,' as Libertarian Party executive director Daniel Fishman told me....

'What the Libertarians and Greens want most is for states to waive all remaining petition signature requirements. On March 30, Vermont did just that, via emergency legislation signed by the governor. (The Libertarian Party was already on the ballot in Vermont, but the legislation added a state to the Green Party list.) Ballot Access News [also] reports that '[i]t is believed that Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont will soon issue an order declaring political parties that are ballot-qualified for at least one statewide office to be deemed ballot-qualified for all partisan federal and state office, for 2020' (though the Libertarians and Greens have already qualified for the presidential election there). A few states have taken smaller steps, such as allowing electronic signature gathering and delaying deadlines, and more states may follow.

"Since the third parties are not expecting uniform assistance from state executive and legislative branches, they are gearing up for more court battles. 'We’re prepared to sue everywhere that we have to,' Fishman said, adding that he feels 'very confident that we’re going to win all of those court cases' since 'there’s never been a stronger case that the petition requirement is unreasonable'....

"[T]he first court battle to waive all signature requirements is now being waged by the Libertarians and Greens in Illinois, with a hearing scheduled for April 17. The two parties have also teamed up for a Georgia lawsuit, asking the state to pro-rate the number of signatures required, accounting for the days during which canvassing is no longer possible. (Unlike the Greens, the Libertarian Party already met the Georgia requirements for its presidential nominee, but are hoping to aid a Libertarian U.S. House candidate.)

"Another possible legal obstacle looms for Libertarians in states with relatively early filing deadlines that require the name of the presidential candidate to be specified. The Libertarian convention is scheduled for May 21 in Austin, Texas, but a delay is expected and alternative plans are not set. This poses a particular problem for the party in New Hampshire, which requires candidates from parties that have not prequalified for the November ballot to issue a statement of intent by June 12.

"Other states allow third parties to submit names to serve as stand-ins until an official nominee is selected. But Washington State, Wisconsin and Alabama could present deadline problems similar to New Hampshire’s, though their deadlines are in late July or August."

Nevada LP keeps ballot access via registrations

Nevada becomes fourth Libertarian state affiliate to exceed 1% of voter registration | Libertarian Party - Bob Johnston:

September 9, 2018 - "For the first time in party history, the number of Nevadans registered to vote as Libertarians exceeds 1 percent of the state’s total voter registration. [*]

"Therefore, the Libertarian Party (LP) of Nevada will retain ballot access as long as it maintains its share of at least 1 percent of the registered voters, in which case it will not have to rely on any specific election results in order to retain its party status.

"Thanks to Richard Winger for bringing this news to our attention. (See his Sept. 5 coverage at the Ballot Access News website.)

"Nevada is the fourth LP state affiliate to have garnered at least 1 percent of a state’s registered voters. Alaska, Colorado, and Nebraska can also claim a share of over one percent.

"This November, ten Nevada Libertarians are seeking the votes of those registered Libertarians and their fellow voters in races for federal, state, and local office.... Learn about the 2018 Nevada Libertarian candidates at the LP Nevada website: LPNevada.org/candidates.

"The Nevada slate is part of the approximately 800 Libertarians running for office at all levels of government this November. Learn about them at LP.org/2018-candidates.

"As of Sept. 5, the LP has ballot access in 48 states plus the District of Columbia."

Read more: https://www.lp.org/nevada-lp-becomes-fourth-affiliate-exceed-1-voter-registration/
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According to the Nevada Secretary of State's report for August 2018, there were 14,955 registered Libertarians in the state.  https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/home/showdocument?id=5752

AZ GOP gets Libertarian gov. candidate off ballot

Is the Arizona GOP at War with the Libertarian Party? - IVN.us - Shawn M. Griffiths:

June 29, 2018 - "Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Kevin McCormick is officially off his party’s primary ballot. He was the only libertarian candidate still in the race, until Arizona GOP Chair Jonathan Lines challenged the legitimacy of over 90 percent of his ballot signatures.

"McCormick ... said he found out 15 minutes before his hearing that he would be kicked off the ballot. The one hold up was Maricopa County. He said that because the county recorder’s office went beyond what was legally required, the recorder’s report had him 942 signatures short of what he needed. [Update: Kevin McCormick says his campaign has identified over 500 valid signatures as of Friday morning that were tossed by Maricopa County.]....

"Lines challenged the registration status of many of the voters, as well as the lack of city/town information on addresses. The most detrimental challenge to McCormick, though, targeted the party affiliation of many of the signers. McCormick ... was ... able to get signatures from hundreds of Republicans and Democrats. Because of this, though, the Arizona GOP was able to successfully kick him out of the gubernatorial race....

"Gaining ballot access is not easy for independent and third party candidates in Arizona.... The Republican-controlled state legislature also made things more difficult for Libertarian candidates in 2015 when they passed a ballot access law that raised the signature requirement to qualify for the Libertarian primary ballot.

"Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News and nationally-recognized expert on the subject, explained to me that the 2015 law based the party’s new signature requirement on total registered voters in the state, rather than the total number of registered libertarians. Winger noted that the law only hurt Libertarians.

"The Libertarian Party filed a lawsuit challenging the law. It failed in district court. However, the party is now asking the Ninth Circuit to overturn the law.

"In 2018, McCormick had to get 3,152 signatures versus the 133 required before the 2015 law. To put that in perspective, the new signature requirement is a little over 10 percent of the total number of registered libertarians in Arizona."

Read more: https://ivn.us/2018/06/29/arizona-gop-war-libertarian-party/
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U.S. registered Liberarians up 92% from 2008

Inside the Beltway: New Libertarian motto: 'Don't tread on me' - Washington Times - Jennifer Harper:

April 9, 2018 - "The national Libertarian Party appears pretty cheerful these days. The organization is busy planning its four-day national convention in New Orleans in late June, where the event theme is 'I’m that Libertarian!'....

"Libertarian leadership has news for members, undecided voters, the news media and the major-party competitors. The number of U.S. voters registered as Libertarian has surged by 92 percent since 2008 according to Ballot Access News, which tracks such trends. Interest in the Republican and Democratic parties is down according to the same source — thus making Libertarians the "fastest growing" political party in the nation, their leaders reason....

"There are currently 619 Libertarian candidates on state and local ballots this year, and the party has attained all-important ballot access in 39 sates. There are Libertarians who already hold elective office — 158 to be exact.

"'The grassroots energy we are seeing in 2018 is amazing,' observes Libertarian National Committee Chairman Nicholas Sarwark, who is running for mayor of Phoenix himself and warns that both major political parties spend too much, and voters are anxious about the national debt, foreign civil wars and other issues.

"'Democrats and Republicans are in denial that we have a problem. Libertarians recognize both the problems and the necessary solutions, and have the courage to ask the American people to let our candidates for public office help restore freedom and sanity,' says Mr. Sarwark.

Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/9/inside-the-beltway-new-libertarian-motto-dont-trea/
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Cannabis industry can make political donations, Illinois court rules

Illinois Libertarian Candidates Win Federal Lawsuit Against Law Making it Illegal for Medical Marijuana Groups to Contribute to Candidates | Ballot Access News:

March 24, 2017 - "On March 24, U.S. District Court Judge John Z. Lee, an Obama appointee, struck down a 2013 Illinois campaign finance law that makes it illegal for any medical cannibis cultivation center or dispensary organization to make a campaign contribution to a candidate for state or local office. Ball v Madigan, n.d., 1:15cv-10441. The decision is 22 pages.

"The only two plaintiffs are Claire Ball, the Libertarian nominee for state Comptroller in 2016, and Scott Schluter, the Libertarian nominee for State House, 117th district, in 2016. Schluter was not on the ballot because of Illinois severe ballot access requirements for candidates for the legislature."

http://ballot-access.org/2017/03/24/illinois-libertarian-candidates-win-federal-lawsuit-against-law-making-it-illegal-for-medical-marijuana-groups-to-contribute-to-candidates/
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Libertarians not ballot qualified in Washington despite Gary Johnson's 5.01%, says SoS

Libertarian Party Becomes Qualified Party in Washington | Ballot Access News - Richard Winger:

November 30, 2016, 11:00 a.m. - "The Washington Secretary of State has completed the official canvass and has determined that Gary Johnson got 5.01% of the total vote. This means the Libertarian Party is ballot-qualified for the next four years....

"The Libertarian Party was also a ballot-qualified party in Washington for the period November 2000 through November 2004. It earned that by polling over 5% for Lieutenant Governor and Auditor in the 2000 election. Because Washington started using a top-two system in 2008, qualified status became much more difficult starting that year. Parties no longer have nominees in Washington for anything except president, so the vote test at that point became much more difficult."

Read more: http://ballot-access.org/2016/11/30/libertarian-party-becomes-qualified-party-in-washington/


Washington Secretary of State Won’t Recognize Libertarian Party After All | Ballot Access News - Richard Winger:

November 30, 2016, 12:55 p.m. - "On November 30, the Washington Secretary of State said the Libertarian Party is not a ballot-qualified party, even though 5% for president gains that status and even though her web page says Gary Johnson got 5.01%. Even though the Washington Secretary of State has not reported any presidential write-ins since 1992, or even acknowledged the existence of any presidential write-ins since 1992, now she says the write-ins (the number of which she has not revealed) will pull Johnson’s percentage below 5%.

"It is likely the Libertarian Party will sue, because the presidential write-ins are not valid, because they are not in support of any particular slate of candidates for presidential elector. The party may also ask the legislature to lower the vote test. The median vote test of the 50 states is 2%."

http://ballot-access.org/2016/11/30/washington-secretary-of-state-wont-recognize-libertarian-party-after-all/
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Libertarian Party registered voters top 500,000

Libertarian Party Breaks Half a Million Registered Voters - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

November 15, 2015 - "The Libertarian Party (L.P.) started 2016 with around 411,000 registered voters. After a year of Trump and Clinton and the Libertarian's Johnson/Weld campaign with its record over 4 million votes for the L.P., nearly 100,000 other voters have seen wisdom in registering Libertarian.

"According to ballot access maven Richard Winger at Ballot Access News, the Libertarians are now the first nationally-organized Party in American history besides the Republicans and Democrats to break a half-million registered voters.

"The L.P. had never broken 400,000 registered voters before this year....

"Another sign of increased health for the L.P. is a yearly monetary take for the national Party of likely near $3 million, for what should be their highest-dollar year since 2000.

"And another: the L.P. got its most votes ever for U.S. House candidates, 1.67 million, even though it ran the same number of such candidates as in 2014, 122. That's a 73 percent increase in House votes over 2014, with same number of candidates run. (Voter turnout this year was about 58 percent higher than in 2014.)

"That's fewer than half the number of federal House candidates the L.P. ran in 2000, the last year in which their House vote total was close to, but not matching, this year's, with a total of 1.61 million. Thus, the Party's votes per candidate have gone up enormously."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/15/liberarian-party-breaks-half-a-million-r
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Maine LP denied party status: SoS failed to process all registrations

Maine Secretary of State Denies Libertarian Party’s Ballot Access | Ballot Access News - Richard Winger:

December 9, 2015 - "On December 9, the Maine Secretary of State said the Libertarian Party is not a qualified party. The law says a new party can qualify by having at least 5,000 registered members by December 1 of the odd year before the election. The Libertarian Party submitted approximately 6,400 registration cards, but election officials only processed 4,489 by December 1. There are enough unprocessed registration cards to put the party over the 5,000 requirement, but the Secretary of State says they don’t count because they haven’t yet been processed.

"It is extremely likely that the December 1 deadline is unconstitutionally early. Courts have struck down early petition or registration deadlines for a group to qualify for party status in Alabama (April was too early), Arkansas (January was too early), California (January was too early), Idaho (May was too early), Nebraska (February was too early), Nevada (April was too early), New Mexico (April was too early), Ohio (November of the year before the election was too early), South Dakota (February was too early), and Tennessee (April was too early). All of those were procedures to qualify a party, not procedures for candidates."

Read more: http://ballot-access.org/2015/12/09/maine-secretary-of-state-denies-libertarian-partys-ballot-access/
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KY Libertarian, Constitution parties sue for ballot status

Libertarian Party of Kentucky, and Constitution Party of Kentucky, File Lawsuit on Definition of “Party” | Ballot Access News - Richard Winger:

December 4, 2015 - "On December 4, the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party filed a lawsuit against the Kentucky definition of a qualified party. The case is Libertarian Party of Kentucky v Grimes, e.d. 3:15cv-86.

"Kentucky is the only state in which it is impossible for a party to ever be ballot-qualified until it polls a particular share of the vote for President. The law requires 2% for President. No other index of support matters. Kentucky is one of only five states in which the only ballot-qualified parties since November 2000 have been the Democratic and Republican Parties. The others are New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.... In the last 100 years, only four parties have met the Kentucky 2% presidential vote test....

"History shows that voters are far more likely to support a party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, for office other than President. The Libertarian Party of Kentucky polled 3.08% for U.S. Senate in 2014, but that doesn’t count. Also it has almost 5,000 registered members, but that doesn’t count either."

Read more: http://ballot-access.org/2015/12/04/libertarian-party-of-kentucky-and-constitution-party-of-kentucky-file-lawsuit-on-definition-of-party/
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North Dakota LP attains ballot access for first time

North Dakota LP attains ballot access for the first time in its history | Libertarian Party:

November 10, 2014 - "For the first time in party history, the North Dakota Libertarian Party has met the vote test to attain ballot access.

"In a non-presidential general election, the candidate for attorney general or secretary of state must get at least 5 percent of the vote for automatic ballot access.

"Roland Riemers, the LPND candidate for secretary of state, received 5.3 percent of the vote in the election...

"This is only the second time a minor party has met the vote test in North Dakota, the other time being the Reform Party in 1996, when Ross Perot was its presidential candidate, according to Ballot Access News.

"In addition, Jack Seaman, candidate for the U.S. House, received 5.8 percent, and the candidate for tax commissioner, Anthony Mangnall, got 6.4 percent. Both candidates were in three-way races with Democrats and Republicans."

Read more: http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/north-dakota-lp-attains-ballot-access-for-the-first-time-in-its-history
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Libertarian Party of North Carolina breaks voter registration record

Libertarian Party of North Carolina breaks voter registration record - Charlotte Libertarian news | Examiner.com - Matthew Reece

February 19, 2013 - "On Sunday, Ballot Access News reported that the latest North Carolina voter registration tally shows that 0.31% of the state's voters are registered as Libertarian. This is the highest percentage of registered voters that a third party has ever had in North Carolina since statistics began to be kept in 1966.

"The old record for third party voter registration in North Carolina was set in October 1972 by the American Party, with a 0.30% share. The American Party gained ballot access in 1968 but lost ballot access after the 1972 election. When a party loses ballot access in North Carolina, the state converts the registered voters of that party to unaffiliated (independent) voters, thereby making a third party start all over again if it regains ballot access."

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/libertarian-party-of-north-carolina-breaks-voter-registration-record
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Will Billionaire's Intimidation Attempt Win? | Santa Monica Mirror

Will Billionaire's Intimidation Attempt Win? | Santa Monica Mirror - Tom Elias:

Dec. 29, 2012 - "No one spent more money trying to influence California politics during this year’s election season than the billionaire Munger siblings, Molly and Charles Jr....But Charles Munger Jr. was also active on the intimidation front....

"It stemmed from Munger’s 2010 investment in Proposition 14, which established the “top two” primary election system.... Top two cost minor parties like the Libertarians, Greens, American Independent and Peace and Freedom their usual spots on the November ballot [so] they and their supporters sued the state. Enter Munger, as an intervenor. He contended state Attorney General Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Debra Bowen were not equipped to defend Proposition 14 on their own.... Munger, as usual, spent big, hiring a prominent, politically-connected law firm with offices in Sacramento and Marin County to make his case.

"When the plaintiffs, led by 69-year-old minor-party advocate Richard Winger, longtime publisher of the Ballot Access News blog, lost the case, Munger insisted they be dunned for his legal fees. A San Francisco Superior Court judge assessed Winger and his fellow plaintiffs $243,000, of which Winger is liable for one-fifth as things now stand. He says paying that sum would just about break him and likely put his blog out of business."

Read more: http://www.smmirror.com/articles/Opinion/Will-Billionaires-Intimidation-Attempt-Win/36420
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Oklahoma AG tricked Libertarians into postponing ballot access suit

Ballot Access News » Blog Archive » Oklahoma Attorney General Ruled on August 17 that Americans Elect May Not Place a Presidential Candidate on the Ballot, but Kept the Opinion a Secret, and Tricked Libertarians Into Postponing the Ballot Access Lawsuit:

August 29, 2012 - "On August 17, the Attorney General issued a 20-page opinion saying the State Board of Elections should disregard the action of the state officers of Americans Elect, who had nominated Gary Johnson for President on July 21. But, he kept this opinion a secret from the Americans Elect Party state officers....

"He also kept it a secret from Jim Linger, attorney for the Libertarian Party ballot access lawsuit. But he told Linger on the phone that the Attorney General’s office, and himself, did not lend any credence to the claim of national leaders of Americans Elect that the party should be removed from the ballot. Therefore, Linger, feeling optimistic about Gary Johnson being on the ballot as the Americans Elect presidential nominee, voluntarily agreed on August 20 to postpone further legal action in the Libertarian Party’s ballot access lawsuit (which had been filed on January 31, 2012) until next year. The lawsuit had been stalled for two months because the state’s expert witness, Professor Clifford Jones, was out of the United States."

Read more: http://www.ballot-access.org/2012/08/29/oklahoma-attorney-general-ruled-on-august-17-that-americans-elect-may-not-place-a-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-but-kept-the-opinion-a-secret-and-tricked-libertarians-into-postponing-the-ball/
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