The Libertarian Party of North Carolina held its annual state convention and marked its 40th anniversary April 22-24. During the convention delegates passed a resolution calling for the repeal of House Bill 2 and adopted a new, revised party platform.
The convention also elected two new at-large members of the state executive committee, selected delegates to the national convention, and elected presidential electors.
The new at-large members of the state executive committee are Sandra Mood of Hendersen County and James Hines of Buncombe County.
“The state has no authority to determine gender,” the unanimous resolution states. HB 2 also “unduly intrudes state authority into local decision-making and unreasonably limits the ability of the citizens … to govern themselves.”
In addition, the bill reduces individual rights because it “bans citizens from using state courts to remedy discrimination”
Libertarians consider both the HB2 and the Charlotte ordinance used to justify this bill as government overreach.
Read more.
Convention resolutions
Draft convention minutes
LPNC Convention Adopts New Party Platform
The major business of the 2016 convention focused on approving a revised platform. The platform committee worked for two years upon the recommendation of the 2014 platform committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the party platform.
“The committee worked hard to accomplish this, adding some planks to be current with North Carolina issues, dropping or combining others, and adopting a uniform language structure between planks,” said Susan Hogarth, committee co-chair. “This new structure is lean, sticking to the essential issue for each plank, which will allow candidates to expand from the basics with their own policy proposals.”
The “new and improved” platform begins with a new and shorter preamble:
Freedom is the natural condition of all people. But far too often, governments stifle innovation through regulation, subvert compassion through bureaucracy, and suppress achievement through economic manipulation—and in so doing, limit our potential to work together voluntarily in achieving shared success and individual fulfillment.
The Libertarian Party of North Carolina holds that state, county, and local governments should never stand in the way of the people of North Carolina—of who we are, who we can be, and what we can achieve—so long as each individual respects those same rights of others.
It includes new planks on Cryptography and Electoral Administration. Many older planks were dropped, rewritten or combined with others. The planks are organized into four broad categories: Personal Freedom and Individual Rights; Economic Freedom, the Free Market, and Social Cooperation; and The Role of Government.
Do You Want to be an LP National Convention Delegate?
The Libertarian Party National Convention is in just a few weeks (May 27-30) in Orlando. The LPNC still has a few delegate spots available. If you’re interested in going to Orlando as a part of the state delegation, contact Barbara Howe at [email protected].
Remember, this is a big commitment in time and money. You have to pay your own way. The presidential nomination takes place on Sunday, May 29. Please contact Barbara as soon as possible. People from other states are asking for the remaining seats in our delegation. We’d prefer to fill them with LPNC members.