lpmndc.org :: The Libertarian Party of Metropolitan Nashville & Davidson County

Home

Rosenberg Continues Push to Strengthen Voters; Court Orders Compliance from Election Commission

Thursday, 02 September 2010 17:39 |

Written by Daniel Lewis |

In another push to give voters a real voice in politics, attorneys for Dave Rosenberg, candidate for Tennessee House District 50, yesterday filed suit against the Davidson County Election Commission for its “willful failure to take action, fostering voter confusion.” The Davidson County Chancery Court promptly issued an order requiring the commission to comply with a request Rosenberg made last Monday.

“We respectfully ask that the election commission be compelled to perform its duties under Tennessee Law, which empowers the commission to require ‘further identifying information’ if voters will be confused or misled by a candidate’s name,” attorney Rob Hill said before the court’s decision.

The complaint noted that one of Rosenberg’s opponents in the race, Dymon Hall, has asked to appear on the ballot as “Dave Hall,” a derivative of the name David Hall, who is a candidate for U.S. Congress and will appear on the same ballot. The candidates Hall are also using identical branding, and robocalls on behalf of the younger Hall alternate between identifying him as “Dave Hall” and “David Hall.”

“Regardless of intent, nobody has disputed the fact that voters will be confused and misled. This fact has been demonstrated in virtually every conversation regarding this matter,” Hill added. “If my client asked to run under the name Phil Bredesen, we would expect the election commission to take action to inform voters that Mr. Rosenberg is not the outgoing governor. Similarly, we are seeking to have Mr. Hall’s officially used and familiarly used name, Dymon, printed on the ballot.”

The lawsuit is another in a long list of efforts by the Rosenberg campaign to strengthen voters’ voices on election day. He has previously stated his opposition to incumbent Gary Moore’s proposed Constitutional amendment to double the length of time lawmakers remain in office before facing the voters. Rosenberg has also called for a transparent redistricting process to guarantee competitive elections rather than the drawing of “safe seats” behind closed doors that prevent voters from having a real choice.

Rosenberg concluded: “The bottom line is we should know with 100% certainty we are voting for the candidate we intend to—and not have to guess whether or not the same candidate is running in two races. Further, we should have the right to hold our elected officials accountable rather than cancelling legislative elections, and have the right to choose between the best candidates available—rather than allowing qualified candidates to be scared off by uncompetitive districts that are the result of backroom political deals.”

To learn more about Dave Rosenberg’s position on the Moore Amendment, please visit http://davetn.com/issues/powergrab.

To learn more about Dave Rosenberg’s position on redistricting, please visit http://davetn.com/issues/redistrict.

Climate change lies are exposed NEW!!

Wednesday, 01 September 2010 06:45 |

Written by Daniel Lewis |

According to a review by the InterAcademy Council, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has “little evidence” for it’s claims about global warming. Read The Full Story

Green and Libertarian Parties File Lawsuit for Equitable Ballot Access in North Carolina

Wednesday, 01 September 2010 06:41 |

Written by Daniel Lewis |

On September 9, 2010 , the North Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral arguments from the North Carolina Green Party and the Libertarian Party of North Carolina at 9:30 am, 2 East Morgan Street, Raleigh 27601.

The action was filed by the Libertarian Party in 2005 and joined later by the North Carolina Green Party (http://www.ncgreenparty.org). Both parties will argue that current ballot access laws deny third parties full rights guaranteed by the state constitution. Members and supporters of both parties will gather at 9 am in front of the court for a press conference.

North Carolina Green Party members are active in the national Green Party (http://www.gp.org) and hosted the Annual National Meeting of the Green Party in 2009 in Durham at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). The Durham meeting was the first time an annual national meeting of the Green Party was held at an historically black college or university (HBCU).

"The Green Party has 27 ballot lines throughout the US and continues to grow in spite of attempts to suppress voter access to choices other than the two major parties," said Theresa El-Amin, North Carolina Green Party activist and recently elected co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "There are 321 Greens running in 2010 for local, statewide and Congressional seats. All fair-minded people support ballot access laws that do not require unreasonable use of time and financial resources. We will continue to fight for justice in North Carolina."

"It's a matter of giving voters alternative choices at election times," said Alan Burns, Green Party member and environmental activist of Charlotte, NC. "Every two years in North Carolina, over 50% of House and Senate seats have only one name on the ballot, and more than 85% of results are predictable for the two major parties before polls open. It's far cry from democratic rights for voters."

According to Richard Winger, the country's foremost expert on ballot access laws, "North Carolina requires 2% of voters in the most recent statewide election to sign petitions for a political party to be listed with candidates on the ballot. The massive turnout of over 4 million voters in 2008 in North Carolina set the requirement for ballot access at 85,379 valid signatures of registered voters."

In 2008, the Green Party nominated Cynthia McKinney, former Georgia Congresswoman, for President of the United States. The North Carolina Green Party ran a write-in campaign for McKinney. Given the low number of write-in votes reported, NC Greens questioned whether all the votes were actually counted. Greens assert that ballot access is the only way to know for certain whether one's vote will be counted.

More Articles...