[extropy-chat] LP NH:The Wrath-tionality of Kahn

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Hal Finney <hal at finney.org> wrote:

> Badnarik wasn't on the ballot in New Hampshire, right?
>
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/NH/P/00/index.html
> 
> What happened there?  Are you hoping to get a Libertarian on the
> ballot for the next presidential election?

I've been asked this so many times I should have a memo prepared in my
drafts folder...

A whole host of things, some our fault, some government screw ups, some
national LP screwups, and some actively criminal interference by the
Democrats all contributed. Here we go:

Our ballot law requires 1500 certified ballot access petitions in each
congressional district to qualify for a statewide race like senator,
governor, or president. In past elections our experience has been that
our petitions are certified at a 90% rate. We collected 3900 petitions
statewide, which we thought was as secure a fudge factor as we needed.
Of those, city clerks and supervisors of checklists certified and
returned 2200 petitions by the statutory Sept 1 deadline. Of the
remainder, we lost them for the following reasons:

a) E911: petitioners would put their new E911 addresses on their
petition, but the voter checklists have not been updated, so the
petition was DQ'd.
b) NADER: National LP sent in pro petitioners to help us reach our
goals, but either didn't know, or didn't tell us, that they were
contracted with Nader to petition for him. Problem is the state law
here which says you can only sign for one party, and whoever gets your
name to town hall first gets your name, everybody else is SOL.
c) National Convention: Our congressional and senate candidates were
nominated last November at our state convention, and two of the three
started petitioning immediately thereafter. One waited until after the
National Convention so he could put Badnarik on all of his petitions.
So he had two months to get 1500 signatures. Not enough time.
d) THEFT: There were at least two incidents of impostors stealing our
petitions from town halls.
e) LATE RETURNS: over half a dozen towns sent petitions back to us
after the statutory deadline, and even after the deadline for us to
turn them over to the Secty of State. The city of Keene never notified
us they were ready and never sent them back at all.
f) Bad clerking: a number of clearly legible petitions were dq'd for
illegibility.

On the plus side, the christian fundies, who hated Benson, are
facetiously crediting Benson's vote count as "the highest ever for the
LPNH" since they've branded him the "first virtual libertarian
governor" in NH.....


=====
Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


		
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