[Lnc-business] Presidential candidates

[Nicholas Sarwark]

Dear All,

For the information of the LNC members, the criteria to be listed on
the LP.org list of 2016 Presidential candidates that I've directed
staff to apply are that a candidate must:
1) Be constitutionally eligible for the office of President
2) Be a sustaining member of the Libertarian Party
3) Have a campaign website
4) Have filed an FEC Form 2 indicating that he/she is seeking the
Libertarian Party nomination, and
5) Not be seeking the nomination of any other political party.

Darryl Perry is listed as an exception that I made because he's
running an active campaign, attending state conventions to campaign
among prospective delegates, and refusing to file as a protest against
an agency that our party believes should not even exist.  This is an
exception to criterion 4 and at some level subjective, but I wanted it
to be clear to the LNC that I made that judgment call, not staff.

To address the specific issue of Mr. Petersen, he has indicated that
he plans to file FEC Form 2 indicating that he is seeking the
Libertarian Party nomination and has not indicated that his present
non-filing is any kind of protest, rather than just a delay in doing
the filing.

To address the legal ramifications, should the delegates decide to
nominate Mr. Perry, any penalties for non-compliance would come down
on Mr. Perry and/or his campaign staff.  As long as the LNC continues
to comply with its FEC compliance requirements, any misbehavior on the
part of a particular candidate, even if the nominee, still falls on
the candidate.

Yours in liberty,
Nick

On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 4:20 PM, Joshua Katz <joshua.katz at lp.org> wrote:
> Colleagues,
>
> I have been thinking about this for some time, and have decided to present
> my concern to the LNC for your input.  Here is a relevant Policy Manual
> provision:
>
> Party resources shall not be used to provide information or services for any
> candidate for
> public office prior to the nomination unless:
> • such information or services are available and announced on an equal basis
> to all
> Libertarians who have declared they are seeking that nomination,
> • such information or services are generally available and announced to all
> party
> members, or
> • the service or candidate has been approved by the state chair.
>
> This leaves open to some interpretation (some would say it leaves a
> penumbra) a few questions, such as what "declared" means in provision 1.
> The easiest way to comply with this provision would be to simply not
> maintain a list of Presidential candidates.  However, this may not be
> practical, since HQ will be asked who our candidates are, and we might as
> well have a list.  I would not be opposed to eliminating the list, but I'm
> also not necessarily opposed to having one.  Nor is it practical to list
> everyone who says they want our nomination, particularly if we wish to
> appear credible.  A look at the 1175 FEC Form 2 Filers will confirm that no
> party can list all of its "declared candidates" nor take all, or most,
> seriously.
>
> So, I agree with having objective criteria for being listed as a candidate,
> if we are to have a list.  Here are the 2012 criteria:
>
> Filed to run for president with the F.E.C. as a Libertarian
> Seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party exclusively
> Dues-paying member of the National Libertarian Party
> Campaign website is current with contact information
>
> Nothing binds us to observe the past requirements, of course, and I tend to
> think, unless the LNC acts, the definition of the criteria belong to the
> Chair or staff.  I also don't think the LNC should micromanage those
> criteria; that is, while I would be fine with the LNC saying not to list
> candidates, I'd be much less enthusiastic about the LNC trying to write
> criteria.  Here is a statement of the current criteria:
>
> The Libertarian Party recognizes 2016 Presidential candidates who have
> campaign websites, are dues-paying members of the LP, have met all U.S.
> Constitutional requirements to serve in office as president, and are not
> running for the nomination of any other political party. They have filed
> with the FEC, with the exception of Darryl Perry, who has chosen not to file
> as a protest against the FEC, claiming it lacks constitutional authority.
>
> Now, Darryl Perry is listed, as noted above.  Not listed is Austin Petersen,
> who meets all criteria, as far as I know, other than filing FEC Form 2.  I
> believe that such a loose criteria as one that can be paraphrased as "either
> filed Form 2, or doesn't want to" is, at least arguably, a violation of our
> Policy Manual requirement to make information or services available equally
> to all declared candidates.  This is, in my opinion, not an objective
> criterion.  Petersen hasn't filed the form - as far as I know, he also
> hasn't triggered any requirement to do so, and neither has Perry (or,
> likely, anyone else.)  He is certainly as much a declared candidate as
> anyone else.  So hasn't he "chosen not to" file it, at least at the moment,
> making him as qualified for listing as is Perry?  Is there a definition of
> "chosen not to" that excludes, well, anyone?
>
> In summary, I believe we can meet our Policy Manual requirement by having
> objective criteria and sticking to them (equally available to all can
> reasonably be seen as "equally available to all who have done certain
> things.)  I believe that, at the moment, either non-objective criteria are
> being applied, or they are being applied selectively, and either option is,
> in my opinion, a Policy Manual violation.
>
> I cannot make motions, so I am simply bringing this to the LNC's attention.
> It is not my intent to attack any candidate, or any decision, but rather to
> ensure that our rules are followed.
>
> Thank you for your time and consideration,
>
> Joshua A. Katz
>
> Region 8 (Region of Badassdom) Alternate
> Libertarian National Committee
>
> Elected Libertarian
>
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