Meetings/Activities attended and engaged:
LPF Fundraising Cmte Meeting, Aug 23, 2023
100@25 State of Cannabis with Jodi James, Aug 26, 2023
LPF Candidates Cmte, Aug 28, 2023
Ballot Access Law Review Call (No Labels), Aug 30, 2023
LPF General Members Call, Sept 3, 2023
Call with Feena Bonoan, Sept 5, 2023
Call with Juana Delacruz, Sept 5, 2023
LPF Audit Cmte, Sept 5, 2023
Call with Evan McMahon, LPIN Chair, Sept 6, 2023
LPF Fundraising Cmte Meeting, Sept 6, 2023
Call with Juana Delacruz, Sept 6, 2023
LPF Candidates Cmte, Sept 11, 2023
LPF Committee Chairs meeting, Sept 10, 2023
LPMD Meeting, Sept 12, 2023
LPF Fundraising Cmte Meeting, Sept 13, 2023
Continued to follow up with Candidate Leads who needed direct in qualifying for office and onboarding them into county affiliates / region rep. Discussed candidate support with Wes Benedict (Libertarian Booster PAC) to help support and recruit candidates.
Preparing an online tutorial series including presentation with worksheets for online distribution and a campaign in a box for future candidates.
Reaching out to attorneys linked to the LP (or LP members) who are licensed to practice law in Florida to develop a volunteer legal team (I have 2 attorneys involved so far).
Responsibilities as chair of the LPF affiliate of Miami-Dade County have occupied some of my time. I have introduced a new action plan there involving public outreach and "open house" gatherings for new members.
Spoke with several representatives of other "third parties" to form a coalition group for a 30-45 minutes call with people we would like to invite to discuss a coalition to restore "democracy" to reach NPA voters in Florida, influence policy and engage in legal action. I mentioned the term "proportional representation" which means the ability of "more" political opinions to be "heard" and represented by "more" political diversity in elected office. Right now, there is a stranglehold of not only one-party rule in the biggest states in the country, but one-faction rule with that one-party, too. This is what is driving hyperpartisanship and loss of real representation of common issues in the American political system --- the system is frozen, unable to assume any meaningful action.
Much of Florida's barrier to entry for third parties are the statutes that make nearly all of Florida's elected offices partisan. Those Florida statutes are:
Section 100.061, Fla. Stat. (2022) ("In each year in which a general election is held, a primary election for nomination of candidates of political parties shall be held on the Tuesday 11 weeks prior to the general election") which effects statewide and state legislative seats, federal offices, and Constitutional officers (e.g., Sheriffs, property appraisers, tax collectors, clerk of courts, and supervisors of elections.
Section 100.081, Fla. Stat. (2022) which affects county officers (e.g., county board of commissioners).
Another point of concern is the Universal Primary Contest law (Florida Constitution Article VI, Section 5) that has been interpreted by the Florida Supreme Court to allow write-in candidates to close primaries. Richard Winger suggests that the Universal Primary Contest law (even without the problem of the write-in candidate) violates the First Amendment freedom of association for political parties. The signature 7-2 decision of the US Supreme Court California Democratic Party v Jones (2000) says parties have a right to prevent members of other parties from helping choose their nominees. If a political party challenged that part of the Florida Constitution, it could prevail and win the right to decide like in California whether to open their primaries to independent or No Party Affiliated (NPA) voters.
To understand better the problem of minorities deciding the issues for majorities through these closed primaries , NYU Law Professor Sam Issacharoff concludes: "In the absence of meaningful bipartisan competition, however, whether at the local, statewide, or even national level, current tides might require redirection in favor of the majority at present. Persistent minoritarian capture threatens democratic legitimacy. The threatened tyranny of the minority of the majority now looms as a central challenge that democratic thought, policy, and doctrine must confront."
