January 1998
Florida wins ballot access victory
The LP of Florida has won a valuable ally in its fight for fairer ballot access laws: The state's Constitution Revision Commission.
On December 12th, the Commission approved, 28-0, a proposal to guarantee that ballot access for a minor party or independent candidate would be no more difficult than for "major party" candidates.
"The unanimous vote is a major triumph for grassroots political action and the democratic process," said LP State Chair Nick Dunbar.
Stifled competition
"If approved by the voters, this amendment would eliminate Florida's discriminatory ballot access laws and harsh petitioning requirements, which have stifled political competition in the past," he said.Proposal 79 will now go to the CRC's Style and Drafting Committee, where the exact wording may be fine-tuned. Then, the proposal may appear as a referendum question on the November 1998 ballot for final approval by the voters.
Ballot access reform was just one of the 20 proposals presented to the CRC by the Commission by the Constitution Liberty Coalition, an alliance spearheaded by the Florida LP.
Libertarians attended all 12 CRC meetings around the state in July, August, and September to urge "protection of political participation rights for all citizens," regardless of political affiliation.
"Libertarians from all over the state -- as well as people from other parties and groups, such as Common Cause -- showed up at the hearings to recite the facts and figures on how Florida's restrictive laws have closed the political process and deprived voters of political choice," said Dunbar. "We came well-prepared, and it is a great credit to the CRC that they were willing to listen and had the courage to advocate this measure.
Florida's ballot access laws have been described by experts as the worst in the nation. Under current law, a new party has to gather over 240,000 signatures just to appear on the ballot for a statewide race -- a hurdle that never has been overcome since the laws were passed in 1931
