Libertarian Party of New York
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The Libertarian Party of New York was founded in 1972 as the "Free Libertarian Party" because the New York Board of Elections ruled that the name Libertarian Party would confuse voters with the Liberal Party of New York. However, the Board of Elections eventually allowed the name "Libertarian Party" to be used. The Statue of Liberty is their ballot symbol, and they now appear on the ballot as the Libertarian Party.
Starting in 1974, the Libertarian Party of New York has had a candidate for Governor of New York on the ballot every four years except for 1986, the only party in New York State without official ballot status to do so. Most other minor parties in New York have achieved ballot status simply by endorsing one of the major candidates. The Libertarian Party of New York calls itself "The Party of Principle" and has so far refused to achieve ballot status by this means.
The Libertarian Party of New York is an alternative political party in the United States active in the state of New York. It is the recognized affiliate of the national Libertarian Party. The party has been fielding gubernatorial candidates since 1974.
The Libertarian Party of New York is dedicated to the principle that free people have the right to do anything they please, except to initiate force, the threat of force, or fraud, against other persons or their property. Any law that violates this principle should be repealed. The only moral laws are those designed to protect this principle.
[edit] Elected Officials
Libertarian Party of New York members currently hold 8 public offices. See: http://www.lp.org/organization/officials.php
[edit] Ballot Access
The Libertarian Party of New York regularly expends great effort in petitioning to get its candidates onto the voting ballot in New York State. Special impediments in NY Election Law are responsible for the relatively slow progress, when compared to the Libertarian Parties in other states
After it first received write-in votes in 1972 for Presidential Candidate John Hospers and Vice Presidential Candidate Toni Nathan (The first woman Candidate for Vice-President to receive an electoral vote), the Libertarian Party has obtained at least 15,000 petition signatures and placed statewide candidates on the ballot in every statewide election between 1974 and 2002, except 1986. These signatures were by law collected in a mere six-week period in mid-July to August (except in 1994, see Schulz v. Williams, 44 F.3d 48 (2d Cir. 1994)). During the six-week petition period, which is arbitrarily scheduled by the State Legislature, many voters are away from their voting districts on summer vacation. The petition period allotted the New York Libertarian Party excludes petitioning among the crowds of patriotic July 4th celebrants.
In spite of these arbitrary impediments, in the Gubernatorial Elections, Libertarian candidates included a full slate of the possible statewide candidates: Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, and, when one is up for election: Senator. In the Presidential races, candidates included the full number of Electors for President and Vice President, and when one is up for election, Senator. This regular achievement of statewide ballot status by a full slate of candidates for 29 years indicates substantial support in New York State.
The party has at various times petitioned and placed local candidates on local ballots in New York, such as in the last New York City Mayoral election. Nationally, the Libertarian Party has 208,456 voters registered by the respective state boards of election. See Richard Wingerâs Ballot Access News (Dec. 1, 2002) at www.ballot-access.org (Click to the December 2002 issue) for a chart of state official registrations as of Oct. 2002 or go to: http://www.ballot-access.org/2002/1201.html#11.
In Green Party, et al., -vs- NYS Board of Elections, et al, 02-CV-6465 (JG), Judge Gleeson, in his Memorandum at pages 5-6, recognized the anomalous unfairness of using the 50,000 vote threshold in a race for governor, as the sole means to qualify as a recognized party. Indeed, the criterion seems calculated to minimize the possibility of a new party receiving such status. Or the criterion can wipe a small party out, if that party's governor candidate stops running at the wrong time, as happened to the Liberal Party. By Order of Sept. 13, 2003 Judge Gleeson gave voters a right to enroll as Libertarian. He was affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
For more information on this case and forms to enroll as a Libertarian in NY, please see: http://ny.lp.org/enroll/
The major parties have a history of passing laws to disadvantage minor parties in New York. Where three-judge court panel had struck down an election statute on Equal Protection grounds, the New York legislature simply reenacted the unconstitutional provision. Schulz v. Williams, 44 F.3d 48, 60 (2d Cir. 1994).
For more information about that interesting year in our history, please see External Links:
[edit] Vote totals for Libertarian Candidates in NY
[edit] Vote totals for Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidates in NY
1974 Jerome Tuccille 10,503 1978 Gary Greenberg 18,990 1982 John Northrup 16,913 1990 Gary Johnson 24,611 1994 Robert Schulz 9,506 1998 Christopher Garvey 4,722 2002 Scott Jeffrey 5,013
(Lt. Governor candidate list needed: vote totals are the same as for Governor)
[edit] Vote totals for Other Statewide Libertarian Candidates in NY
[edit] Attorney General
1994 Daniel A. Conti 19,202 2002 Dan Conti 23,213
[edit] Comptroller
2002 James Eisert 19,235
[edit] Vote totals for Libertarian U.S. Senate Candidates in NY
1992 Norma Segal 108,530
1994 William P. McMillen 8,223
2000 John Clifton 4,734
2004 Donald Silberger 19,093
2006 Jeff Russell 15,929 [1]
[edit] Vote totals for Libertarian Congressional Candidates in NY
(no data yet)
[edit] Vote totals for Electors from NY for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
1980 Ed Clark 52,648 2000 Harry Browne 7,649
[edit] Vote totals for Libertarian Candidates in NYC 2005
- Audrey Silk for Mayor 3,105 .25%
- Jim Lesczynski for Public Advocate 17,034 2.22%
- Ron Moore for Comptroller 12,629 1.67%
- Joseph Dobrian for Manhat. Boro Pres. 2,891 1.17%
- Gary Popkin for Brooklyn Boro Pres. 2,143 .82%
- Claudia Flanagan for City Council D. 2 643 2.59%
- Jak Karako for City Council - Dist. 4 358 1.03%
- Thomas Ruks for City Council - Dist. 22 352 2.26%
For lists of Libertarian candidates who have run in NY since 1998, please see: [2]
[edit] Party Background
The Libertarian Party was founded in 1971 (see [3]) on the libertarian principle: that people should be free to do whatever they wish, except to initiate force, the threat of force, or fraud against others or their property. The principle does not preclude retaliatory force, as in the redress of wrongs through courts, and as in the traditional common law of self-defense. National Libertarian Party Members, including the New York Members, have paid $25 per year, and have as a condition of membership signified: "I certify that I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals."
[edit] External links
- Bob Schulz's fight for more fair ballot access, November 1994 LP Press Release
- Ballot access in New York State, (written around 1995) by William Kone
- The 1994 Petition Drive by Blay Tarnoff
- Libertarian Party of NY website
- National Libertarian Party website
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