The Libertarian National Committee will meet Friday evening to appoint several of its members to the party’s Credentials Committee, with the understanding that they will be replaced at the organization’s next in-person meeting.
In a November 19 thread on the LNC’s public Business List, Secretary Evan McMahon announced that the committee would meet on Friday, November 21, at 7:30 PM EST to make the appointments. According to Chair Steven Nekhaila, the meeting will be limited to voting on the appointments and will include no other business. It will be held remotely, and registration details are available through a notice on the national party website.
Under LNC bylaws, the committee must fill five seats on the Credentials Committee six months before the start of the next regular convention, which begins May 21 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As of Friday morning, the pending motion lists Chair Steven Nekhaila, Vice Chair Paul Darr, Secretary Evan McMahon, second Region 1 Alternate James Wiley, and At-large Representative Andrew Watkins.
Nekhaila said he approached the initial slate of members with the request that they temporarily serve until new appointments are made. If the five members are approved Friday, they will hold their seats only until the LNC’s in-person meeting scheduled for December 6–7 in Dallas, Texas, where the committee will then vote to replace the entire Credentials Committee in accordance with the bylaws.
Watkins, however, stated in a separate thread Thursday night that he was removing his name from consideration, citing an inability to attend the meeting and frustration with the process after there were concerns raised by other members about whether the motion was properly noticed. In his place, Keith Thompson volunteered to serve, though as of this article the motion on the public list has not been updated.
Per remarks made on the LNC public Business List and details reflected in the vote tracking spreadsheet, this meeting was later changed to just the Executive Committee members. The original five individuals, including Andrew Watkins, were approved.
The LNC self-inflicted this mess upon themselves by simply ignoring the deadline calendar that Harlos had kept for them prior to her leaving in disgust.