The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania - Forum

Libertarians should have a primary in PA.  I went to the polling place on April 22nd and they had no ballot for me.

I believe (which means don't quote me because I am not sure) the reason the Libertarian Party does not have a primary is to ensure that the taxpayers of this country are not burdened by the costs associated with it. We simply choose our candidates at conventions and state/county meetings.

The taxpayers shouldn't foot the bill for the election of any candidate for any political party.

A candidate and their supporters should pay for their campaign expenses.

We do ourselves a terrible disservice by not having primary elections during "primary season".  Mainly because we get ZERO media coverage.  We also don't have the "whittling down" process that other parties have, which I think is useful.

People are thinking about their next President NOW.  If the Libertarian Party fails to put their name and their candidates names in the public media NOW, we will always be an after-thought.

I also believe the primary process should be reformed completely.  The nation should be divided into four or five regions, and ALL the primaries for those states should be done on the same day together, with a month or so between each one.  For each election cycle, the order in which the regions vote should be rotated.

For example:

Election 2012:

West Coast primary February
Western Plains March
Eastern Plains April
Southeast May
Northeast June

Election 2016:

Northeast February
West Coast March
Western Plains April
Eastern Plains May
Southeast June

etc...

I think in Pennsylvania you have to be considered a "Major Party" (15% of the registered voters affiliated with your party) before you can have your party included in the primary process.  As of Nov 2006 (the last time 3rd party breakdowns are included), the LP has 0.44% of the total registered voters in PA.  For Nov 2007, the total under the "Other Parties" category amounts to 12%.