[Lnc-business] Fwd: LPME Official Party & Ballot Access Reform

[Alex Merced (LNC Vice Chair)]

I am more than glad to share and solicit assistance in my personal channels for 2 & 3 and await further discussion from the responses from the team before anything goes on official channels. (feel free to ask me to post anything I can to help anytime)

Regarding number 1, makes sense to me but I’ll defer to the longer standing members who may have more wisdom on how National legal resources are used.

Alex Merced
Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee/LP

> On Jul 22, 2018, at 6:55 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos via Lnc-business <lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:
> 
>   Normally I would first speak to the Region 8 representative but as that
>   seat is TBD and vacant, I am forwarding this directly to the list - the
>   sentiment that other states are a priority and Maine is not, concerns
>   me.  Many states feel that way and it is a disfunction in our
>   organization.  I would like for us to be able to give Chris a direct
>   answer but also put remediating this sentiment in general in our
>   Party.  It can be done.  I did it in Region 1.  I trust that the Region
>   8 representative when elected will do so as well.
>   -Caryn Ann
>   ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>   From: Chris Lyons <[1]chrislyons752 at gmail.com>
>   Date: Sun, Jul 22, 2018 at 3:38 AM
>   Subject: LPME Official Party & Ballot Access Reform
>   To: "Nicholas J. Sarwark" <[2]chair at lp.org>, [3]alex.merced at lp.org,
>   [4]treasurer at lp.org, [5]secretary at lp.org,
>   [6]joe.bishop-henchman at lp.org, [7]sam.goldstein at lp.org,
>   [8]alicia.mattson at lp.org, [9]william.redpath at lp.org,
>   [10]joshua.smith at lp.org, [11]richard.longstreth at lp.org,
>   [12]craig.bowden at lp.org, [13]steven.nekhaila at lp.org,
>   [14]victoria.page.lee at lp.org, [15]elizabeth.vanhorn at lp.org,
>   [16]dustin.nanna at lp.org, [17]jeffery.hewitt at lp.org,
>   [18]kenneth.olsen at lp.org, [19]james.lark at lp.org,
>   [20]susan.hogarth at lp.org, [21]john.phillips at lp.org,
>   [22]phillip.anderson at lp.org, [23]whitney.bilyeu at lp.org,
>   [24]erin.adams at lp.org
>   Good morning officers of the LP.
>   I am currently the chair of the Libertarian Party of Maine and held
>   this position in 2016 into 2017 as well. During both these times, I
>   have requested support, not just moral support, repeatedly to ensure
>   LPME maintains official party status and thus, ballot access.
>   Even though we have enjoyed growth and success,99% by our own means, it
>   is apparent we are not a priority and other states are. So be it.
>   With no choice to but accept this reality, I respectfully request
>   support in 3 other areas:
>   1) Will LP support our legal counsel to pressure and possible go to
>   court with the state of Maine to not have our 5,800 enrolled
>   Libertarians be unenrolled by the state after the general election and
>   that Mainers will still be able to enroll as Libertarians once we lose
>   official party status. It is my understanding that 8 cases have been
>   argued on this matter and 7 were successful. Will LP support this?
>   2) LPME is working out the details with other organizations to begin a
>   citizens' initiative for Ballot Access Reform. The Maine Green
>   Independents (43,000 + registered) are on board. The language and
>   details are being worked out and covers lowering the number of
>   registered voters to achieve official party status, nomination by
>   convention and if need be, lowering the number of petitioning
>   signatures for candidates to be on the ballot. The number of signatures
>   required for the initiative is 61,000+. The Greens are on board and
>   other organizations will be as well. We intend to sublit and launch
>   this coming September. We will be using volunteers and paid petitioners
>   to get the signatures. We will also need funds to educate the voters to
>   be successful on the general election in 2019. Will the LP, on our
>   behalf, solicit donations for this initiative?
>   3)LPME has been hosting raffles for guns and lobsters. In August, we
>   will be holding another raffle of Box of Maine.
>   [25]https://www.boxofmaine.com/  Would LP direct the management of the
>   national party to post this raffle on the LP fb page on August 3, 10,
>   17, 24 & 31?  I will have the particulars before this date so it merely
>   needs to be posted. The revenue from these raffles goes towards growing
>   county structures and is being saved to launch another registration
>   drive in 2019 to gain official party status, again.
>   Thank you.
>   Cordially,
>   Chris Lyons
>   LPME, Chair
>   --
>   --
>   In Liberty,
>   Caryn Ann Harlos
>   Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee Secretary
>   - [26]Caryn.Ann. Harlos at LP.org or Secretary at LP.org.
>   Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee - LPedia at LP.org
>   A haiku to the Statement of Principles:
>   We defend your rights
>   And oppose the use of force
>   Taxation is theft
> 
> References
> 
>   1. mailto:chrislyons752 at gmail.com
>   2. mailto:chair at lp.org
>   3. mailto:alex.merced at lp.org
>   4. mailto:treasurer at lp.org
>   5. mailto:secretary at lp.org
>   6. mailto:joe.bishop-henchman at lp.org
>   7. mailto:sam.goldstein at lp.org
>   8. mailto:alicia.mattson at lp.org
>   9. mailto:william.redpath at lp.org
>  10. mailto:joshua.smith at lp.org
>  11. mailto:richard.longstreth at lp.org
>  12. mailto:craig.bowden at lp.org
>  13. mailto:steven.nekhaila at lp.org
>  14. mailto:victoria.page.lee at lp.org
>  15. mailto:elizabeth.vanhorn at lp.org
>  16. mailto:dustin.nanna at lp.org
>  17. mailto:jeffery.hewitt at lp.org
>  18. mailto:kenneth.olsen at lp.org
>  19. mailto:james.lark at lp.org
>  20. mailto:susan.hogarth at lp.org
>  21. mailto:john.phillips at lp.org
>  22. mailto:phillip.anderson at lp.org
>  23. mailto:whitney.bilyeu at lp.org
>  24. mailto:erin.adams at lp.org
>  25. https://www.boxofmaine.com/
>  26. mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org