The Liberty Alliance of Massachusetts is working to establish a new political designation in the state before the end of the year. The organization, affiliated with the Liberal Party USA at the national level, is seeking to create a “Liberal” ballot line.
The petitioning effort is being led by Cris Crawford, who also serves as the Liberty Alliance’s treasurer. In an email sent Monday, Crawford stated that the organization aims to collect at least 50 valid signatures from Massachusetts voters before October. That total is the minimum number of signatures required under state law to establish a political designation. While there is no formal deadline imposed by the state, Crawford noted that the group has set an internal goal to complete the process by the beginning of that month.
“We are bringing back the true meaning of the name Liberal to Massachusetts,” Crawford wrote. “It’s going to take some work, but the time is ripe. We’ve done harder things before.”
The Liberty Alliance of Massachusetts previously operated as the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts until last month, when members voted to rebrand at the party’s annual convention. It is the official Massachusetts affiliate of the Liberal Party USA and a founding member of the national organization. Before that, it was previously associated with the Libertarian National Committee, but opted to disaffiliate after a split in membership led to the creation of a new organization that was recognized by the LNC as its state affiliate.
As a designation, the Liberal label would be available to use by any unenrolled candidate in Massachusetts who wishes to list it next to their name on the ballot. This differs from political parties, which have a degree of control over their ballot lines. To eventually register the Liberal designation as an official party, the Liberty Alliance would need to either enroll at least 1% of all registered voters under the label or receive at least 3% of the vote in a statewide election using it.
The Liberty Alliance previously had access to the Libertarian ballot line following the 2022 election cycle, when Crawford earned 23.1% of the vote in her campaign for state treasurer using the then-Libertarian designation. That performance qualified the designation for political party status and triggered the formation of a recognized Libertarian Party of Massachusetts State Committee, which ultimately included members from both LAMA and the Unified Libertarians. However, the statutory party and its exclusive ballot line were dissolved by the state following the results of the 2024 presidential election.
A candidate who petitions to be on the November ballot is free to use any short, non-obscene ballot label that doesn’t mimic the name of a qualified party, whether that label is the name of a “political designation” or not. There is no connection between ballot labels and “political designations.” “Political designations” only relates to the right of a group to have election officials keep track of how many voters register into it.