The Libertarian National Committee voted down a motion this week that would have directed staff to send nominating certificates to elections divisions in states where the party has not yet done so to confirm the Oliver campaign as the presidential ticket.
“Move to direct staff to send the Certificate of Nominations to each Secretary of State/Bureau of Elections for each state in which we have not already done so and to note those for which we already have written confirmation that the State Chair has already done so or they have already received and acknowledged in order to put the Oliver/ter Maat ticket on the ballot,” the text of the motion read. “This should be fully accomplished within the next seven days.”
In a vote of nine members opposed versus six in favor, with LNC Chair Angela McArdle and Vice Chair Mark Rutherford not voting, the motion to send the certificates was rejected. The motion was first proposed by LNC Secretary Caryn Ann Harlos and co-sponsored by several members, including LNC Treasurer Bill Redpath. It was presented as a way to fulfill the legal and procedural requirements necessary for Oliver and ter Maat to appear on ballots in each state. Voting on the motion took place from July 11 to July 17.
Additional details provided on the LNC business list during the voting period revealed that two sets of nomination certificates were initially signed at the convention. The national party reportedly retained both sets and would send one copy to each state party chair and the other to each Secretary of State. Harlos noted that the Oliver campaign had asked her in her capacity as secretary whether this process had been completed and expressed their desire for it to be done.
As has now been confirmed by the CO SOS, Nuna’s comment about the state party having a role – at least in CO – is incorrect.
Harlos needs to be booted off the board.
I commend Kathy Yeniscavitch, Robert Vinson and Meredith Hays for having the patience to put of with their evil bullshit without getting allowing themselves to get sidetracked; and I commend Andrew Watkins, Adam Haman and especially Adrian Malagon for tirelessly pushing back against the evil bullshit and exposing it for what it is.
Now Harlos is attempting to oust McArdle, by pulling “rumors” out of her ass claiming the McArdle told the Colorado SoS to withdraw the Oliver-ter Maat certificate of nomination.
Once again, the national party’s “certificate of nomination” holds no weight, it is legally impotent. It is the LPCO’s board of directors which nominates the Libertarian presidential ticket that will appear on the Colorado ballot, because they control their ballot line. So what possible motivation would McArdle have for requesting a withdrawal of a meaningless piece of purely ceremonial paper.
I commend National Committee members Harlos, Nanna, Nekhaila, Darr, Weir, Johnson and Redpath for their efforts to place Libertarian Party nominees Chase Oliver and Michael ter Matt on all state ballots for President and Vice President.
Richard,
Thanks, that just leaves the question of how many such states there are.
Such certificates hold no weight unless they are approved by the state party’s board, which Harlos hasn’t been on for (I believe 6?) years now. They are legally impotent. They convey to the SoS who the national party’s chair and/or secretary believe should be nominated, but that is purely ceremonial since the state party is the one holding the ballot line and its board of directors makes the nomination.
It was obvious before, but bears repeating because this is such obvious confirmation: Chase Oliver is the nominee of the Libertarian National Convention. He is not the nominee of the Libertarian National Committee.
There shouldn’t be anything surprising at this point that the committee simply does not regard Oliver / ter Maat as their organization’s presidential ticket, whatever the dissenting minority might think. He’s not even the runner-up among LNC members. More of them will be voting for Trump or for Kennedy than for him (several including McArdle would probably vote for both if they could), and the committee is accordingly offering both of those candidates more support than him.
Why should any state party that regards Oliver as its nominee remain affiliated with the LNC? They have literally nothing to lose. They’re functionally disaffiliated already, they’re not getting anything from the LNC, which is supporting opposing candidates while opposing their candidate. What even is the relationship between those state parties and the LNC at this point? Why continue to pretend they’re part of the same political party when they are so obviously not? It’s not LPCO that should be disaffiliated by the LNC, they’re on the same side here. It’s any state party that supports Oliver that should admit the reality and formally declare they’re no longer affiliated with McArdle’s committee, which they have absolutely no obligation to remain associated with.
Forget fighting over the word “Libertarian,” the word “Party” makes no sense to describe these people, as if they still share any common purpose or organization. It’s like pretending Cornel West and Mitt Romney are in the same political party. You can be part of the party that nominated Oliver for president, or you can be part of the party that has McArdle as its chair, but you can’t do both because that party doesn’t exist.
Caryn Ann Harlos was just doing her job when she forwarded the certificate to the Colorado Secretary of State. Presidential conventions of both major and some minor parties regularly print up certificates, which are signed by the national chair of the convention, the secretary of the convention, and notarized for both signatures. Our national convention officers have been sending such certificates for decades now.
The deadlines are almost entirely in September. The Republican national convention in 2008 was September 1-4. The Democratic national convention in 2012 was September 4-6. All states accepted certifications submitted by those parties, after those conventions were over. The 4 states with deadlines in the latter half of August might even act quickly to make them later, if the Democratic Party needs more time this year. Two of those states are controlled by Democratic legislative majorities and Democratic governors (Washington and California).
A motion to condemn the LPCO and make an example out of them for reaching an agreement with RFK which they believe best serves their members. A motion to prevent a joint-fundraising agreement with RFK while the LP is on the brink of bankruptcy. A motion to intimidate state affiliates into nominating the national party’s candidates.
Instead of representing their members or acting in the party’s best interests, Harlos, Nanna, Nekhaila, Darr, Weir, Johnson and Redpath are playing a very dirty game. But playing stupid games frequently results in winning stupid prizes. And if Harlos, Nekhaila and Redpath somehow think that they are sitting high and dry for the next two years because they just got re-elected, and can therefore do whatever they please while remaining untouchable, then they should think again. As for the regional “representatives”, I can’t imagine that they are making themselves very popular with the majority of party members in the regions which they are supposed to be representing and to which they are ultimately accountable.
If they keep this up, the (national) LP won’t be around in two years due to lack of state affiliates, never mind their current financial insolvency. And individually, Harlos has already set herself up to be sued by the LPCO over her little Colorado SoS stunt pretending that as national secretary she somehow has any authority to file a nomination on behalf of her state’s affiliate; not to mention her attempts at threatening and intimidating the board should they reject the dubious results of a national convention fraught with irregularities and violations, which itself may soon prove to be sufficient grounds for a lawsuit…
We may well finally be witnessing the self-destruction of the LP in real time; and it looks like a train-wreck in slow motion, but the wagons are filled with nuclear waste.
What all states are those, or how many are there, and what are their deadlines for doing so?