Courtesy of Susan Hogarth, Libertarian Angel of Wake County

Starting with thanks to Rep Paul Miller of Durham and co-sponsors Paul Luebke of Durham, John M. Rayfield of Gaston, Paul Stam and Jennifer Weiss of Wake. Well done. We may not agree on some things, but you clearly believe in democracy. Good on ya!

From an email from Susan Hogarth:

You know that the Libertarian Party of NC is fighting the battle for ballot access on three fronts: the NC General Assembly, the NC courts, and petitioning for renewed ballot status for the LP in NC. Today we need your help with the struggle in the General Assembly.

H88 - The Electoral Fairness Act

H88 was filed last session by Rep Paul Miller of Durham and co-sponsors Paul Luebke of Durham, John M. Rayfield of Gaston, Paul Stam of Wake, and Jennifer Weiss of Wake. As written, H88 would have reduced North Carolina's signature requirement (to gain ballot access) by three-fourths and the vote threshold (to retain ballot access) by four-fifths, easing the ballot access burden while still leaving North Carolina in the top twenty most restrictive states.

H88 passed out of two committees intact last year but was amended on the floor of the House to leave the state's signature requirement unchanged (69,734 verified signatures) and to shorten the signature deadline by four months, changes that would make ballot access even more difficult in North Carolina. Fortunately, this amended version never got to the Senate.

During this year's 'short session', H88 started off in the Senate's Judiciary I (JI) committee. The committee chair, Sen. Clodfelter, is sympathetic to the original version and has indicated that he intends to make sure the bill is taken up by the committee and restored to its original form. If H88 passes this session, the Libertarian Party (and other political parties in NC) will have a much easier time getting and staying on the ballot.

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP PASS THE ELECTORAL FAIRNESS ACT:

* Write the Senate JI Committee!
Please take a moment now to email one or more of the JI committee members (names and addresses below) to ask them to vote YES to a restored H88 when it comes up in committee. Sen Clodfelter (JI chair) has already received lots of letters and emails and has indicated his support, so please concentrate on the others members of JI. If your Senator is on the committee, that makes it especially important to contact that Senator, but any member of the state Senate can be lobbied on this issue now. If you have the time to follow up your email with a written letter or a FAX, please do so. If you send an email, please consider BCCing me ( hogarth@gmail.com) so we can have an idea of what is getting sent.

Points you may want to include in your email:

- With no third parties certified in North Carolina, more than half of all state legislative races will have only one candidate on the ballot in November, 2006. This may be one of the reasons why less than half of eligible adults in North Carolina vote.

- North Carolina has the third most restrictive signature requirements for political parties in the nation (69,734 verified signatures). Because roughly one-third of all signatures cannot be validated, a political party in North Carolina must raise more than 104,601 signatures to be sure of getting ballot access. That's one signature for every 73 people in the state.

- Our tax money pays county board-of-elections officials to verify every one of those petition signatures.

- The Libertarian Party has been the ONLY 'third party' in North Carolina to consistently achieve ballot access, and it has come at such a huge cost (in money and volunteer effort) to the LP that candidate support and campaigning have suffered merely to be able to retain (or regain) a ballot slot.

- After each four-year election cycle, if a third party does not receive ten percent of the vote for governor or president, the party is de-certified and has to start all over again. The Libertarian Party has been certified and de-certified eight times.

- More than two-thirds of U.S. states require 10,000 or fewer signatures for independent ballot access. Twenty-one states, including South Carolina and Maryland, require 10,000 or fewer signatures for political parties. Nine states require 5,000 or fewer signatures for both parties and independents.

- The Electoral Fairness Act of 2005 would have reduced North Carolina's signature requirement by three-fourths and the vote threshold by four-fifths, easing the ballot access burden while still leaving North Carolina in the top twenty most restrictive states.

- The Electoral Fairness Act passed out of two committees intact but was amended on the floor of the House to leave the state's signature requirement unchanged (69,734 verified signatures) and to shorten the signature deadline by four months, changes that would make ballot access even more difficult in North Carolina.

- North Carolina needs the Electoral Fairness Act - in its original, unamended form - to allow greater ballot access to third parties and independent candidates and to allow NC voters more choice at the ballot box.

Remember (tips for emailing):
- You don't need to hit every point; it's better to leave out some information and use your own language than to cut and paste all the points above.
- It's better if you send individual emails rather than CCing all the members on one email (cut-and-paste is your friend here:)
- Please be creative and polite and remember, a short note is better than no note at all!
- THANK YOU!

Members of JI committee:
Vice Chairman Sen. Philip E. Berger philbe@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman Sen. Julia Boseman Juliab@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman Sen. R. C. Soles, Jr. Rcsoles@ncleg.net
Sen. Charles W. Albertson Charliea@ncleg.net
Sen. Andrew C. Brock Andrewb@ncleg.net
Sen. Harry Brown Harryb@ncleg.net
Sen. Janet Cowell Janetc@ncleg.net
Sen. David W. Hoyle Davidh@ncleg.net
Sen. Clark Jenkins Clarkj@ncleg.net
Sen. Jeanne H. Lucas Jeannel@ncleg.net
Sen. Vernon Malone Vernonm@ncleg.net
Sen. Martin L. Nesbitt, Jr. martinn@ncleg.net
Sen. Keith Presnell Keithp@ncleg.net
Sen. Tony Rand Tonyr@ncleg.net
Sen. Richard Stevens Richards@ncleg.net
Sen. Jerry W. Tillman Jerryt@ncleg.net

Thank you for writing, and if you'd like to follow up with a letter, FAX, or phone call, I can provide you with that information (or you can look them up at the NCGA website).

And, finally, a very simple task to help show your support for the Electoral Fairness Act and get your friends involved:

* Please sign the H88 petition
The NC Open Elections Coalition, a group of organizations which are committed to broader ballot access in North Carolina, has prepared an online petition for you to sign and share with your friends. It will only take a moment, and this is a great way for you to get your non-Libertarian friends to help us in this struggle - please go to the website, sign, and then send your friends there to sign!!:

http://www.petitiononline.com/ncopec/petition.html

Thank you again for contributing to the ballot access struggle! Please email me at hogarth@gmail.com if you have question or concerns.

Thanks to Susan!