Libertarians Complete Petition Drive
The Libertarian Party will be on the November ballot in North Carolina.
Tomorrow, the party plans to turn in 72,000 certified petition signatures to the State Board of Elections, making Libertarians officially eligible to field candidates alongside Democrats and Republicans.
The N.C. Libertarian Party has long complained about North Carolina’s restrictive ballot-access laws. Few other states require third parties to collect anywhere close to the number of signatures that North Carolina requires. Running the necessary petition drive in North Carolina took nearly four years and $128,000, the party said today. (Defenders of the current system say it keeps the ballot from becoming cluttered with minor candidates.)
The Libertarians have been on North Carolina’s ballot before, but they have never received enough votes to automatically get a place on the ballot four years later. This year, thanks to a new state law, the party must get at least 2 percent of the vote (down from 10 percent) in the gubernatorial election in order to guarantee a place on the ballot without having to petition in 2012. Mike Munger, the Libertarian candidate for governor, believes that 2 percent is well within reach — and he says he would consider that a victory.
