20K registered Libertarians in Maryland, but LP loses party status

Green and Libertarian parties are technically no longer recognized in Maryland. Here's why. - Baltimore Sun - Lillian Reed:

March 20, 2019 - "Maryland voters registered as members of the Green and Libertarian parties may have received a letter in the mail stating their party is no longer recognized by the state.... The letter states that the Green and Libertarian parties each lost their status as a recognized political party in Maryland. That means registered members of both parties had their affiliation automatically changed from Green and Libertarian to 'Other-Green' and 'Other-Libertarian,' respectively....

"For a political party to appear on a ballot in Maryland, it must ... nominate a candidate who receives at least 1 percent of the total vote for the highest office on the ballot in a statewide general election, or show that the party represents at least 1 percent of the state’s registered voters.

"The state, which evaluates each political party’s status every four years, found in December that the Green and Libertarian parties had not fulfilled either of the two provisions, said Donna Duncan, assistant deputy for election policy with the State Board of Elections.

"The Libertarians filed a lawsuit Dec. 27 against the state. The party’s Maryland spokesman Lorenzo Gaztañaga called the state’s decision to remove the party from ballots a 'waste of resources' over what is ultimately a technicality, he said.

"To regain its status, the party must submit a petition with 10,000 signatures pledging interest in seeing the party appear on the ballot. In the lawsuit, Libertarians are arguing that the petition should be unnecessary given that there were already more than 20,000 registered Libertarians in Maryland, Gaztañaga said....

"The Maryland Green Party supports the aim of the Libertarians’ lawsuit. In past years, Green Party leadership has sought to change Maryland’s laws from requiring the party to represent 1 percent of registered voters to instead requiring it to represent 10,000 registered voters, said Andy Ellis, secretary for the Maryland Green Party. Prior to losing its status, the Maryland Green Party had about 9,200 registered voters, Ellis said....

"Maryland voting laws create a disadvantage for candidates who wish to run for office as a member of the Green Party, Ellis said. 'We'd like to be recruiting candidates right now, but candidates can't file with us at the moment,' he said....

"Both Ellis and Gaztañaga were confident their respective parties will regain recognition in Maryland, regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit."

Read more: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-green-libertarian-party-20190319-story.html

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NY Libertarian membership grows post-election

Libertarian numbers grow in New York - Capitol Confidential - David Lombardo, Albany Times-Union:

February 5, 2019 - "The ranks of the Libertarian Party in New York have immediately swelled with the party’s addition to the state’s voter registration form.

"The third party, which became a recognized party in January based on its showing in last year’s gubernatorial race, has 9,757 registered members in New York as of last week, according to data compiled by the state Board of Elections. This is nearly a 25 percent increase from 2018, based on estimates from party officials.

"Asked about the new status in November, New York Libertarian Party Chair Jim Rosenbeck said: 'It will no longer be a mystery how to register as a Libertarian'....

"A similar bump in enrollment was not seen by the Serve America Movement, a third party that qualified for the ballot with gubernatorial candidate Stephanie Miner. The party has zero registered voters in New York.

"Before the Libertarian Party became officially recognized, New Yorkers were able to write in the party on their registration form and they were classified as “other” party voters by the state, which was at 8,668 voters in November. This category had increased to 10,067 voters as of last week, with about 72 percent coming from the Women’s Equality Party and about 28 percent from the Reform Party, both of which lost their recognized status when their gubernatorial candidates got less than 50,000 votes in November.

"Nearly three quarters of the Libertarian voters are from outside of New York City."

Read more: https://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/285843/libertarian-numbers-grow-in-new-york/

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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

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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Nebraska Libertarian registrations top 12,000

Libertarian Party is trending upwards in Nebraska - Max Massey, 1011 News (KOLN):

June 29, 2017 - "[A] third party is growing across Nebraska: The Libertarian Party....

"Trevor Reilly .. is the chair for the Lancaster County Libertarian Party, but just a few years ago he was in the marines and a registered Republican, then he decided he wanted a change.

"'Being a prior Republican I didn't agree with a lot of it, I didn't agree with the Trump media going on, so when I found the Libertarian party, I jumped into the campaign,' said Reilly.

"Trevor's not the only high ranking Libertarian who is a former member of the Grand Old Party.

"Senator Laura Ebke is the only Libertarian senator in the unicameral, and said the political shift is becoming more and more apparent....

"Right now there are less than 13,000 registered Libertarians, but Senator Ebke believes this is only the start.... The latest registered voter numbers show the Libertarian party is growing at a faster rate than the two major parties.

"Party members understand they are still a very small percentage, but there are plans to grow.

"'Starting to run people for local elections, city county offices, school board and things like that, so I think that's a win and that's a way you build a party,' said Senator Ebke....

"'Right now the state party's goal is to actually get 50,000 registered Libertarian voters by 2020,' said Reilly.

"'If we get to 50,000 that's big, for Nebraska, that's a significant amount of the voting population, and we can make a difference in a lot of elections then,' said Senator Ebke."

Read more: http://www.1011now.com/content/news/Libertarian-Party-is-growing-431689273.html
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Registered Libertarians top 10,000 in Nebraska

Libertarians see proposal as chance to continue growing party | Nebraska Legislature | journalstar.com - Zach Pluhasek, Lincoln Journal & Star:

March 29, 2017 - "Nebraska's growing ranks of Libertarian voters could see more of their candidates on local ballots if a proposal that is working its way through the Legislature succeeds. The bill would allow any political party with 10,000 or more registered voters to remain recognized in the state, regardless of how its candidates perform in statewide elections.

"In recent years, Libertarians have been forced to run 'sacrificial lamb' candidates for statewide offices in hopes of securing 5 percent of the vote, the minimum threshold for the party to maintain its officially recognized status.

"'If this passes, that whole sacrificial lamb mentality goes away and we can focus on growing the party,' said Gene Siadek of Omaha, treasurer of the Libertarian Party of Nebraska. 'We can maybe focus on elections that might be more winnable for us.'

"Sponsored by Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, the proposal (LB34) received first-round approval Wednesday on a 30-0 vote.

"The change would apply to any third party that qualifies, but so far the Libertarians are the only ones who come close.

"Their party has hit some major milestones in the past year, including Ebke's decision to ditch the GOP and register as a Libertarian. She became the state's highest-ranking Libertarian elected officeholder and the only Libertarian in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.

"Last fall, the party topped 10,000 registrants for the first time, which Siadek attributed in part to Ebke's switch and also to Donald Trump securing the Republican presidential nomination."

And this year, the party submitted its first financial statement to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission after exceeding $5,000 in donations for the first time."

Read more: http://journalstar.com/legislature/libertarians-see-proposal-as-chance-to-continue-growing-party/article_13055c92-5e72-5506-b4ae-4b2509f29272.html
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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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Libertarian registrations up 26% in Colorado

Libertarian Party Sees Uptick in Registered Voters, Beats Democrats and Republicans | Westword - Ana Campbell:

October 19, 2016 - "'It's been a very good year.'

"Jay North, the state chairman of the Libertarian Party, is being modest. According to the latest voter-registration statistics, the number of registered Libertarians in Colorado grew over 26 percent since January. Republicans added about 4 percent, Democrats about 7 percent.

"We spoke to North about the increasing interest in the Libertarian Party, the foibles of the party's candidate and the party's future.

Westword: To what do you attribute the rising interest in the Libertarian Party?

Jay North: We're attributing it to, the [Democrats and Republicans] have the two worst candidates running for president. People are looking for other options. They're jumping ship and looking for the parties that can fit their principles. And the Libertarian Party's principles are pretty across the board where people just fit in.

"Critics of third parties allege you all are present during presidential years but not so much during congressional and city council races.

"We actually have quite a few candidates in those races. We don't fill out the ticket, obviously, but we have about thirty people running this year out of fifty races. We like to fill a ticket, but the Libertarian Party is really about the message. Can we shift the window to a more liberty-oriented message or society than we are now?

"What do you see as the future of the Libertarian Party?

"It's either going to be the same as it was last year, or it's going to be growing more than what it is now. It's kind of hard to tell. This happened before, with Ron Paul in 2008. When he was running, the Libertarian Party had a huge uptick in participation. Then it didn't really fizzle, but it didn't keep growing. So we have another huge uptick where we're working as hard as we can to keep those people in and get them busy doing stuff, like volunteering and spreading our message. We're basically like any business. They want to have their logo or their products or services among the general knowledge of people.

"A lot of Coloradans don't want to be told what to do. That's how the marijuana law got passed. It wasn't because Democrats rolled over or Republicans gave up. It's because, since 1972, the Libertarian Party has been pushing that issue. It's taken us forty years to get there, but we got there. Same thing with gay marriage. The Libertarian Party was pushing that issue since 1972. I think Colorado is just one of those states where most of the people, they want liberty."

Read more: http://www.westword.com/news/libertarian-party-sees-registered-voters-uptick-beats-democrats-republicans-8418379
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Libertarian registrations up 28% in Nebraska

Libertarian Party sees surge of new voters in Nebraska | Regional Government | journalstar.com - Grant Schulte, Associated Press:

October 16, 2016 - "Nebraska's Libertarian Party ... has seen a 28 percent increase in voter registrations since the state's May primary. The number of registered Libertarians is on pace to top 10,000 before the Nov. 8 election, and a state senator who recently joined the party is using her experience as a former GOP political activist to teach its members how to campaign.

"'It has a different feel from the third-party campaigns of the past,' said Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, who switched her affiliation from Republican to Libertarian in May.

"Libertarian activists have set up phone banks and are building a volunteer network to knock on doors. The party recently purchased campaign software to track and communicate with registered voters. They're also using a 'text blasting' app to communicate with young voters, a tactic borrowed from former Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders' campaign.

"Party activists are focusing more on local government races and setting up new county chapters to recruit candidates. Libertarian Ben Backus, who ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2014, is expected to win a seat on Gering's City Council after his primary opponent withdrew from the race. The party is also fielding candidates for the Scotts Bluff and Washington county commissions.

"Activists said their strategy is twofold: In local government, they can influence policies that affect people directly, such as property and sales tax rates. It also helps them gain experience and name recognition that could help them run for higher state offices....

"Backus said Libertarian Party officials have offered debate training and provided mailing lists to candidates who seek their help. Ebke has played a major role, drawing from her experience as a former GOP activist, Fairbury School Board member and state lawmaker. She now serves as Nebraska's state director for the Libertarian presidential ticket of Gary Johnson and Bill Weld, both former GOP governors.

"Ebke said party activists hope to appeal to Democratic-leaning voters with their positions on civil liberties and Republicans with their emphasis on fiscal restraint. In the presidential race, the party is aiming to secure at least 5 percent of the statewide vote for Johnson in hopes that the Libertarians will automatically qualify for the ballot in the next presidential election.....

"Libertarians have traditionally struggled to qualify for the ballot in Nebraska but regained access in 2010 and slowly working to build their ranks, said Michael Knebel, a district coordinator for the party. Knebel said Ebke's party switch and the resulting media attention helped boost the number of registered Libertarians, as did opposition to Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"'The last 12 months have been a game-changer,' he said."

Read more: http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/libertarian-party-sees-surge-of-new-voters-in-nebraska/article_b1eb6732-53ee-5568-a20f-daacaf1c2d1b.html
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