[LPVA Announce] ACTION ITEM - Help Make Ballot Access More Fair

URGENT ACTION REQUEST

Dear LPVA members and friends:

Please help make it easier for Libertarian Party of Virginia candidates to get on the ballot in Virginia!

Under current law, the Commonwealth of Virginia makes it more difficult than almost all other states for a political party to remain on the ballot and be able to place its candidates on the ballot without petitioning.

It takes 10% of the vote for a statewide office (and, there are only five of them: President, US Senate, Governor, Lt. Governor & Attorney General) in either of the last two statewide elections. Only one state, Alabama, has a higher vote percentage retention requirement, at 20%.

We need to find members of the Virginia House of Delegates and Virginia Senate who will agree to be patrons for and to vote for legislation that will reduce this vote percentage ballot retention requirement to something more reasonable.

A few years ago, North Carolina reduced its vote percentage retention requirement from 10% for President or Governor to 2%. Maryland went from 10% to 1% in 1998. In West Virginia, it has always been 1%, and Kentucky has always been 2%.

We should ask for the 10% of the vote ballot access retention requirement to be reduced to 2% in Virginia. The specific change would be to Sec. 24.2-101 of the Code of Virginia, striking 10% and replacing it with 2%.

Please email or call both your Delegate and State Senator and ask if they will support such legislation. Don�t know who your Delegate and State Senator are?

Go to: <http://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/>http://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/

and type in your home address (no PO boxes!) to see who your Delegate and State Senator are.

The most important Delegates and State Senators are those who are on the House and Senate Privileges & Elections Committees. Those members can be seen here:

<http://hodcap.state.va.us/publications/housecommitteechart2014-5.pdf>http://hodcap.state.va.us/publications/housecommitteechart2014-5.pdf

and here:

<http://sov.state.va.us/SOV%20Portal/Forms/Comcal.2014.pdf>http://sov.state.va.us/SOV%20Portal/Forms/Comcal.2014.pdf

Time is of the essence! While the Virginia General Assembly won�t convene until early January, bills for the upcoming legislative session are being submitted now. Things are going to move fast, particularly given that this is going to be a �short� session in 2015.

If your Delegate or State Senator agrees to support such legislation, please inform me at <https://us-mg5.mail.yahoo.com/compose?to=chair@lpva.com>chair@lpva.com or by calling me at 703-864-2132.

Thanks very much,

Bill Redpath
LPVA Chairman



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