Libertarian vs. Liberation creates third-party conundrum on Virginia ballots
GRAHAM MOOMAW The Virginia Mercury
RICHMOND — Most Virginia voters go for candidates with a “D” or “R” next to their name, but who should have dibs on the “L?”
This year, election officials preparing November’s ballots were faced with the dilemma of how to differentiate the Libertarian Party from the Liberation Party, the newly formed initiative from gubernatorial candidate and social justice activist Princess Blanding.
“We didn’t want to list them both as ‘L’ Because that’s a really bad idea,” Dave Nichols, elections services manager for the Virginia Department of Elections, said at a state Board of Elections meeting Tuesday.
To resolve the issue, the state reached out to both parties for ideas.
“We believe the identification of ‘L’ for Libertarian has long been used in Virginia and voters understand that ‘L’ officially represents a vote for the Libertarian Party,” Joe Paschal, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Virginia, wrote in response. “We believe it would be unfair to ask our party to change the ballot identification of ‘L’ after spending years establishing this familiarity with voters. As such, we request ‘L’ for the Libertarian Party on all ballots in Virginia.”
The Liberation Party, which Blanding chairs, seemed to concur. In her own letter, Blanding suggested ‘LP,’ ‘LTP,’ or ‘LBP’ as possible abbreviations for her party. |
