[Lnc-business] Proposal for Online Convention

[Steven Nekhaila]

Dear All,

The way I see it, we have three viable options:

1) The velocity of the SARS-Cov2 virus deescalates and government 
lockdowns and healthcare measures are so effective that despite not 
having a vaccine ready, governments nationwide decide to lift 
restrictions on movement and mass gatherings just as things are starting 
to get better. Life as we know it is back to normal.

2) The lockdown measures stay in place as the SARS-Cov2 virus continues 
to spread, social distancing is still the norm as the 10 day doubling 
time keeps the curve flattened. Governments know that if they lift 
restrictions then the velocity of spread will increase, thus 
overwhelming our healthcare system more than it already is. Public 
outcry and fear allow governments to double down on measures, while some 
governments loosen the restrictions on businesses to allow for some 
economic commerce while strict social distancing practices remain in 
place. At this point, allowing a large public gathering in Austin, TX is 
seen as a public health risk to local municipal workers and residents, 
thus banned. Because the Libertarian Party Constitution does not grant 
us the ability to have online meetings, or allow alternative convention 
methods, or allow the LNC to decide how conventions are held with a 
8/10th vote or other threshold, then the Party Officers meet in Austin 
with enough members for quorum to change the rules and immediately 
adjourn convention, thus legally changing our rules to assure that the 
legitimacy of our Presidential candidate moving forward cannot be 
legally contested. At this point, we move on to an alternative style 
meeting.

3) The lockdown measures stay in place as the SARS-Cov2 virus continues 
to spread, social distancing is still enforced, and representatives lack 
an exit plan as they are caught between a public health crises and an 
economic crises. The Libertarian Party does not wish to endanger its 
members and can no longer hold a convention in Austin due to the imposed 
gathering restrictions. The LNC works with the CoC to come up with an 
alternative convention plan, and executes that plan...

This is my plan, and I invite you to consider it:

Having a Zoom convention with over one thousand members is possible, but 
with the complexity of our rules and communication, execution will 
likely be sloppy. Not to mention what could go wrong with giving over 
1,000 people a public livestream, credentialing, and etiquette matters. 
Rather than an electronic convention, we utilize pre-existing meeting 
infrastructure and resources which we regularly use and trust, the State 
Chairs and State meeting tools.

The convention could be structured through a hierarchy, delegates to the 
State Chair and Secretary, the Chair to the LNC Secretary, the LNC 
Secretary announces the results and the next round of balloting ensues. 
Move the votes up the chain to the top, from the ground up. It would 
involve trust, its crude, but it would work. Plus, all of the State 
Chairs are used to holding meetings, which can be done over the phone 
using services like Free Conference Call, where the call in number can 
be used to positively ID delegates. Alternatively, users can be on the 
call, and votes can be privately sent to the Secretary of that state 
using voting software or simple tools like email, messenger, and 
Whatsapp. The State Secretary would record the votes, tally them up, the 
Chair would present the totals to the delegate body while keeping them 
anonymous just as the Chair does at convention, and then submit the 
totals to the LNC Secretary. Alternatively, we could vote by voice to 
ensure rigidity of elections. Our teams are smart, I am sure we can find 
a creative solution.

The State Chair sends in the tallies to the LNC Secretary, she counts 
the vote and announces the results, then we move forward. We could 
organize multiple meetings at preset times to allow for votes to be 
counted in the interim, or remain on the line until all states get their 
votes in and we move on. If our members are willing to travel to Austin 
amidst a national economic & health crises, I am sure they would be 
willing to hold on the phone. The logistics would not be daunting for 
most States, as the amount of allocated delegate slots for much of the 
country is low to moderate, in Florida we have around 54 delegate slots 
by last count. So we are more than average, however, the logistics of 
organizing a phone conference or Zoom meeting of that magnitude would 
not be challenging.

This would be the simplest retro-fit solution to use the power of our 
State affiliates and familiar technology to put the convention underway. 
I am sure we can work out the finer details, but the execution would be 
the easiest to plan for, sans there are no restrictions on Austin. Time 
will tell if this is necessary, but with the interest of our Party 
members health and representation on the line, we can choose when to 
start planning.


In Liberty,

Steven Nekhaila
Region 2 Representative
Libertarian National Committee

Impotentes defendere libertatum non possunt
"Those without power cannot defend freedom"