Mr. Will McVay, who already has the Libertarian nomination, is seeking to run as a fusion candidate on the Democratic and Republican tickets as well. He filed with the Delaware Department of Elections, however both Democratic and Republican parties have asked the Department of Elections to remove his name. As a results, McVay is filing suit to force them to include his name on the primary party ballot.
McVay argues that this “will be the end of fusion candidacies in Delaware and will force the members of every political party to limit their nominations to members of their own party, regardless of their preferences.”
While I was at work today, the State Department of Elections website was updated, removing Brent Wangen and myself from the primaries we had filed and paid for. Celia Cohen is indicating that the cause was a legal opinion issued by the attorney general in 1994 that a candidate not “involved” with the party they file with can be disqualified from the primary ballot. I have attended Republican meetings, been turned away from Democratic meetings due to my party registration, and been registered as both a Democrat and a Republican in the past. But none of that matters.
I do applaud his novel approach. Indeed, it would further the liberty cause for a libertarian candidate to gain the support of either or both of the larger parties.
However, as a libertarian, I am disappointed at McVay’s current tactics. Individual political parties have the authority to set their own rules, platform and candidates. There is no ‘right’ to force a political party’s endorsement. Moreover, the Delaware Department of Elections, as a government agency, ought to be in the business of overseeing elections, not telling parties who they can and cannot consider for nomination. (Granted, Title 15 of the Delaware Code is patently unfair to parties other than the two “principal political parties” and ought to be revisited … but that’s a whole other topic.)
The Libertarian Party 2010 Platform, as adopted in Convention May 2010, St. Louis, MO.
3.6 Representative Government
We support electoral systems that are more representative of the electorate at the federal, state and local levels. As private voluntary groups, political parties should be allowed to establish their own rules for nomination procedures, primaries and conventions. We call for an end to any tax-financed subsidies to candidates or parties and the repeal of all laws which restrict voluntary financing of election campaigns. We oppose laws that effectively exclude alternative candidates and parties, deny ballot access, gerrymander districts, or deny the voters their right to consider all legitimate alternatives.
As a private voluntary group, a political party should be able to establish their own rules for nomination and how to run their primaries. Forcing a party for inclusion on their primary ballot violates their rights to free association and is therefore, decidedly an anti-libertarian act.
