In the midst of some recent national controversy, it had been deemed expeditious for the Alaska Libertarian Party to publicly address our position on the National Libertarian Party’s Presidential ticket nominated at the recent D.C. convention.
Our bylaws are very clear on the matter:
Article VI: Procedure for Selection of Candidates for Political OfficeThe AKLP shall participate as the statewide Alaska affiliate of the National Libertarian Party enjoying all of the privileges and responsibilities that come along. Selection of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidates – The AKLP will accept as AKLP nominees for President and Vice-President the two candidates chosen for those offices by the National Libertarian Party National Convention. No formal vote for the two offices is required of the AKLP…
As the Alaska State affiliate of the National Libertarian Party, the Alaska Libertarian Party supports the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates nominated at the national convention: Chase Oliver & Mike ter Maat.
However, setting our affiliate obligations aside for a moment we can also tell you that shortly before the national convention Mike ter Maat won our Alaska State convention presidential preference straw poll. Although he did not clinch top billing in D.C., we are excited to see our State delegates’ number-one pick on the ballot.
And while we understand the nomination of Chase Oliver has been divisive within the Libertarian movement, the AKLP is proud to champion a ticket that offers Alaska’s voters an alternative to the same old uniparty lesser-of-two-evil options. Whether you agree or not with every stance Chase has taken, he is a vociferous and passionate anti-war advocate who offers much needed contrast to a field of two douopoly candidates who both have a proven track record of continuing the military-industrial-complex’ wars of choice around the world, and an independent candidate who has promised to increase American’s military footprint in the Middle-East.
We would also remind anyone who feels conflicted about voting for the Libertarian ticket this year that voting Libertarian is an act that transcends the individual candidates on the ballot. According to the latest numbers, less than 40% of Alaska’s voters are registered as either Republican or Democrat; a Libertarian vote is a well-deserved repudiation of the two party system that still dominates many ballots across the State. It sends a powerful message to both left and right that we are a voting block who’s issues and concerns can’t be ignored. More concretely, the percent of Alaskans who vote Libertarian for president is used to calculate how many delegates Alaska is entitled to seat at national conventions for the next 4 years. And thinking optimistically, if we are able to get to 5% nationally, we gain automatic 50-state ballot access, and can stop wasting so much of National’s and state parties’ time and money on ballot access every cycle.
For all these reasons whether Chase Oliver was their personal favorite candidate or not, the AKLP strongly encourages every Libertarian (big or little “L”) to rank the LP’s candidates as their first choice this November. Alaskans are in the rather exclusive club of Americans who have the privilege of voting Ranked-Choice, so we hope Alaskans will take advantage of the opportunity, and realize that whichever candidate anyone feels is the lesser of evils between R or D; there will be a perfectly good spot for them in the #2 rank on the ballot.
Please feel free to reach out to me directly at nicholas.conrad@alaskalp.org if you have any concerns about our candidate support, or further questions.
