[Lnc-business] Husted v. APRI: Amicus Brief Final Draft

Tue Sep 26 18:31:30 EDT 2017

I am comfortable with the reworded portions of the brief shown in Mr.
Hall's email. However, I would be interested to see if the descriptions of
the LP have been cleaned up a bit.

I would guess that most Anarchists and Voluntaryists do vote albiet with
the recognition that the bottom-up collaborative leadership by example is
at least as effective as the top-down electoral process in achieving
freedom despite the top-down regulatory relief benefit.

Thoughts?

~David Pratt Demarest

On Sep 26, 2017 4:33 PM, "Caryn Ann Harlos" <carynannharlos at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I will read but am immediately alarmed by that distinction.  Many
> anarchists do consider themselves principled non-voters - yet highly
> political.  The immediate past Chair of the Libertarian
> Party of Colorado - Jay R North - is an example.  He is not alone.  I will
> read to see if it is accurate but let's not misrepresent a group that we
> are in a position to know about.  (I'm an anarchist - though I vote -
> myself so kinda know the community and the nuances - it's not a blanket
> thing)
>
> -Caryn Ann
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 3:18 PM Oliver Hall <oliverbhall at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> Please find attached a PDF of the amicus brief as filed on behalf of the
>> Libertarian National Committee in *Husted v. A. Philip Randolph
>> Institute*, No. 16-980.
>>
>> After the executive committee meeting addressing this matter, I reviewed
>> the draft brief and sent a lengthy list of comments and corrections,
>> including those I received from committee members, to our counsel from
>> Wilmer Hale. I also discussed these concerns with counsel by telephone. I
>> believe the changes the firm made to address committee members' concerns
>> are acceptable, although in some cases I would have preferred different
>> wording. I have included detailed notes on several of those changes below,
>> to provide a sense of how the concerns raised were addressed in the final
>> draft.
>>
>> I wanted to address one point in particular: the Wilmer team thought it
>> important to indicate that principled non-voting is not the same as an
>> anarchist's complete abstention from the process. Therefore, although I had
>> suggested replacing any mention of not voting in "a single election cycle"
>> with more general language referencing "abstaining from the electoral
>> process," the Wilmer team tried to chart a middle path between those two
>> options. I agreed that was an appropriate strategy, since we are only
>> arguing for a constitutional right not to vote based upon the choices, or
>> lack thereof, in particular election cycles, and not necessarily the
>> constitutional right not to vote under any and all circumstances.
>>
>> I know that committee members were not pleased with how little time the
>> committee had to review and approve this brief. That is understandable. It
>> should not have happened. In the future, I will make sure it doesn't.
>>
>> Thank you and I hope this final draft meets your approval.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> --
>> Oliver B. Hall
>> Special Counsel
>> Libertarian National Committee617-953-0161 <(617)%20953-0161>
>>
>>
>> *Comments on Changes to Final Draft of Amicus Brief*
>>
>> Page 3, second sentence: "But the Ohio policy at issue—a “use-it-or-lose it”
>> rule whereby a registered voter is deemed “inactive,” commencing a
>> process that can result in the voter being purged from the voter rolls,
>> because he or she did not vote during a single election cycle—also raises
>> serious constitutional concerns."
>>
>>    - In the draft form, this sentence stated that a voter could be purged
>>    "merely for not voting in a single election cycle"; the addition of
>>    "commencing a process that can result..." makes the sentence
>>    accurate, even though it still contains the "single election cycle"
>>    language
>>
>> Page 3, last paragraph: reference to "a particular election cycle" was
>> changed to plural, "particular election cycles"
>>
>> Page 3, last full sentence: "Commencing a process to remove voters from
>> the rolls because they did not vote in a single election cycle undermines voters’
>> ability to take this type of political action, penalizes them for their
>> acts of political expression, and is akin to forced political activity."
>>
>>    - In the draft form, this sentence simply began, "Removing voters
>>    from the rolls because..."; again, as revised, this sentence is accurate,
>>    despite containing the "single election cycle" language
>>
>> Page 4, first paragraph: the reference to "particular election cycle"
>> has been changed to the plural, "particular election cycles"
>>
>> Page 4, first paragraph: contains a complete and accurate statement of how
>> the statutory scheme works as applied, including the steps of mailing a
>> notice, and then failing to vote in two subsequent election cycles
>>
>> Page 13, first full paragraph: the sentence beginning, "Coercing them to
>> vote," now includes the language "if they choose to abstain from the
>> electoral process"
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Lnc-business mailing list
>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>
> --
> *In Liberty,*
> *Caryn Ann Harlos*
> Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona,
> Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
> Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
> <http://www.lpcolorado.org>
> Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee
>
> A haiku to the Statement of Principles:
> *We defend your rights*
> *And oppose the use of force*
> *Taxation is theft*
>
>
>
>
>
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> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>
>
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