Yes, the great state of North Carolina, the state which flat out ignored Constitutionally valid votes for Ralph Nader in 2000, drew "safe" districts which, had it not been for the Libertarian Party, would have resulted in half of the General Assembly seats being uncontested, and has the third toughest ballot access requirements in the country, now wants to make it even harder for real competitors to get on the ballot.
Currently, if a minor party doesn't get at least 10% of the vote for President or Governor, they're no longer considered a valid party. At that point, they have to spend over $100,000 petitioning to get back on the ballot. So in the next election cycle, they're considered a "new party" and must nominate candidates in convention (at their own cost, no cost to the taxpayers) and are prohibited from running a primary. This means that the candidates do not pay filing fees. In the next election cycle, in a year divisible by 4, they have to hold a primary and pay filing fees to cover the costs of the primary just like the Democrats and Republicans—but if they don't get 10% of the vote for President or Governor, they're no longer a party and have to start all over again.
Now, in addition to all of this, the NC General Assembly wants to force new party candidates to pay a "new party filing fee," even though they're still not allowed to have the primary they'll be forced to pay for. Otherwise, they would have to petition for a second time to actually get on the ballot.
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/html2003/bills/CurrentVersion/house/hbil0043.full.html
The main proponent and author of this bill is Rep. John Rayfield, whose only opposition in 2002 was Libertarian John Covington (who got 16% of the vote). Rayfield says that it's simply an issue of fairness; that third parties should be subject to the same rules as the major parties.
You know what? I agree with him 100%. We should. And I would love it if all I had to do to get on the ballot was take a quick trip up to my county BoE and pay a filing fee. That's all the Democrats and Republicans have ever had to do. Don't you think we'd like to spend that nine months focusing on our campaigns instead of collecting signatures? Don't you think the party would love to have that $100,000 to spend on advertising or supporting its candidates? Don't you think we'd love to be treated exactly the same as the Democrats and Republicans, who in the entire history of North Carolina have never, ever, ever had to file a petition to get on the ballot?
But this has zilch to do with fairness. What's the point in getting signatures filed by June 1st when the deadline for filing is Feb. 27th? The LP wouldn't be able to actually field any candidates under this new rule because that deadline would also apply to them, even though the LP wouldn't be officially recognized at the time of the deadline, and so Libertarian candidates couldn't file if they wanted to. It would effectively pull back the petitioning deadline to Feb. 27th, and I doubt even the Democrats and Republicans could pull that off if they tried.
And let's not forget the NC Constitution (even though our representatives have), which says, in Article VI Secion 6:
But North Carolina, the state where you actually have to qualify as a write-in candidate (and your votes aren't counted if you don't, just like Nader's), it's clear they don't care about that.
Maybe it is unrealistic to consider the Libertarians, Greens, and any other party just like the Democrats and Republicans. But at the very least, we should go back to the ballot access requirements in place before 1983, where only 5,000 valid signatures were required for a new party to get on the ballot, and only 1% or 5,000 votes for President or Governor, whichever is lesser, was required to maintain ballot access. Dump the requirements for a write-in candidate, including the "sore loser" provision and allow the loser of a primary to have his write-in votes counted at the general election. And if you're going to make new parties pay the primary election filing fee, allow them to actually run a fscking primary.
Actually, I'd be in favor of allowing all parties—even the Democrats and Republicans—to, if they so choose, nominate their candidates in convention instead of a primary at their own expense (and none to the taxpayer), and in such a case their filing fees would be waived.
But I guess that's too fair and makes too much sense for some politicians to actually consider.
Currently, if a minor party doesn't get at least 10% of the vote for President or Governor, they're no longer considered a valid party. At that point, they have to spend over $100,000 petitioning to get back on the ballot. So in the next election cycle, they're considered a "new party" and must nominate candidates in convention (at their own cost, no cost to the taxpayers) and are prohibited from running a primary. This means that the candidates do not pay filing fees. In the next election cycle, in a year divisible by 4, they have to hold a primary and pay filing fees to cover the costs of the primary just like the Democrats and Republicans—but if they don't get 10% of the vote for President or Governor, they're no longer a party and have to start all over again.
Now, in addition to all of this, the NC General Assembly wants to force new party candidates to pay a "new party filing fee," even though they're still not allowed to have the primary they'll be forced to pay for. Otherwise, they would have to petition for a second time to actually get on the ballot.
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/html2003/bills/CurrentVersion/house/hbil0043.full.html
The main proponent and author of this bill is Rep. John Rayfield, whose only opposition in 2002 was Libertarian John Covington (who got 16% of the vote). Rayfield says that it's simply an issue of fairness; that third parties should be subject to the same rules as the major parties.
You know what? I agree with him 100%. We should. And I would love it if all I had to do to get on the ballot was take a quick trip up to my county BoE and pay a filing fee. That's all the Democrats and Republicans have ever had to do. Don't you think we'd like to spend that nine months focusing on our campaigns instead of collecting signatures? Don't you think the party would love to have that $100,000 to spend on advertising or supporting its candidates? Don't you think we'd love to be treated exactly the same as the Democrats and Republicans, who in the entire history of North Carolina have never, ever, ever had to file a petition to get on the ballot?
But this has zilch to do with fairness. What's the point in getting signatures filed by June 1st when the deadline for filing is Feb. 27th? The LP wouldn't be able to actually field any candidates under this new rule because that deadline would also apply to them, even though the LP wouldn't be officially recognized at the time of the deadline, and so Libertarian candidates couldn't file if they wanted to. It would effectively pull back the petitioning deadline to Feb. 27th, and I doubt even the Democrats and Republicans could pull that off if they tried.
And let's not forget the NC Constitution (even though our representatives have), which says, in Article VI Secion 6:
But North Carolina, the state where you actually have to qualify as a write-in candidate (and your votes aren't counted if you don't, just like Nader's), it's clear they don't care about that.
Maybe it is unrealistic to consider the Libertarians, Greens, and any other party just like the Democrats and Republicans. But at the very least, we should go back to the ballot access requirements in place before 1983, where only 5,000 valid signatures were required for a new party to get on the ballot, and only 1% or 5,000 votes for President or Governor, whichever is lesser, was required to maintain ballot access. Dump the requirements for a write-in candidate, including the "sore loser" provision and allow the loser of a primary to have his write-in votes counted at the general election. And if you're going to make new parties pay the primary election filing fee, allow them to actually run a fscking primary.
Actually, I'd be in favor of allowing all parties—even the Democrats and Republicans—to, if they so choose, nominate their candidates in convention instead of a primary at their own expense (and none to the taxpayer), and in such a case their filing fees would be waived.
But I guess that's too fair and makes too much sense for some politicians to actually consider.
eek: ) STAND FOR SOMETHING!
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