Libertarians Deserve Their Place At The Political Table

[From Si Cantrell, Wilmington Star]

When it comes to divvying up the spoils of victory, the two major parties are of one mind: They don’t want anyone else at the table.
That’s why the Libertarian Party was decertified last month by the State Board of Elections.
North Carolina has some of the harshest laws in the nation when it comes to recognizing political parties. A party must get 10 percent of the votes for either governor or president, or it will be abolished.
Libertarians don’t get the votes, so every four years they have to collect signatures equal to at least 2 percent of the votes cast in the most recent governor’s race, about 70,000 valid voter signatures this time.
It cost around $100,000 to gather those signatures four years ago, said Sean Haugh, executive director of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina. Now they have to start over.
Being a party makes it easier for Libertarian candidates to get on ballots. Now, Democrats and Republicans are the only players.
“If there’s one thing the two parties can agree on, it’s that Libertarians need to be held to a high standard,” said John Evans, chairman of New Hanover County’s Libertarians.
He said workers will collect signatures at the upcoming city elections on Oct. 11. He needs volunteers. Call him at 232-0690 if you’re interested.
Mr. Haugh said his party is filing a lawsuit seeking to overturn our ballot access laws. He said as barriers to free elections, they’re unconstitutional.
State Rep. Paul Miller, D-Durham, introduced a bill easing the requirements. It passed the House, but was watered down greatly. Libertarians hope to restore the easier rules before it’s voted on in the Senate next year.
I have mixed feelings about third parties. As a self-confessed Democrat, I didn’t have warm feelings about the decisive role Green Party candidate Ralph Nader played in the close 2000 election. And some Republicans think the great sucking sound they heard in 1992 was Ross Perot siphoning off votes for former President George H.W. Bush, who lost.
It can be irritating when a candidate who hasn’t got a chance costs your man the election. But that’s politics.
Mr. Haugh said that with our state’s districts being so carefully gerrymandered to favor one party or the other, Libertarians are often the only opposition an incumbent faces.
Having people run unopposed in designer districts isn’t good for democracy. Third-party candidates sometimes raise issues others won’t touch.
Mr. Haugh said in 1992, a Libertarian candidate for governor, Scott McLaughlin, campaigned on a crazy idea to get rid of the sales tax on food. Now there’s no state sales tax on the food we buy for home preparation. Mr. Haugh said politicians of both parties clamored to take credit for the change.
Richard Winger of Ballot Access News said North Carolina’s percentage requirements for getting on the ballot and remaining a party are both exactly five times tougher than the national median. Many states count percentages in any statewide election, so if a Libertarian gets the right percentage on an office like high court judge or treasurer, their party would stay alive. Not here.
Mr. Winger said our state requirements were raised after the Socialist Workers Party had some success in 1980. The General Assembly decided that wouldn’t do at all.
Mr. Evans compared the Libertarians’ plight, starting over as a new party every four years, to Sisyphus. He’s the guy in Greek mythology who was condemned to spend all his time trying to roll a big rock up a hill. The rock kept rolling back down.
The Libertarians would rather keep trying to roll that rock up the hill than join the Democrats or Republicans. After watching the endless talking-point debates of Sunday morning news shows, I begin to understand why.
Sign the petition to let them back on the ballot. And call your lawmakers in Raleigh and demand that they make our election laws more fair.