Election law challenge

LPNC Press Release

Oral argument for the Libertarian Party's appeal of its challenge to North Carolina's election laws has been set for April 20 at 1 p.m. The appeals panel judges are Chief Judge John C. Martin and Judges Ann Maria Calabria and Sanford Steelman

The Court of Appeals is temporarily located at 227 Fayetteville St, (the Old Wachovia building). The entrance is on Wilmington St.. The case is the second on the docket, so it probably won't be heard until about 2 p.m.

Tea Party

Several Libertarians joined the more than 200 people gathered on the Capitol lawn Saturday in a new American Tea Party demonstration.  Fernie Williams carried this sign, and Brian Irving debuted the Liberty Penguin Flag and was interviewed by WTVD TV-11.

The grassroots group NC New American Tea Party will hold another Tea Party April 15. There will be two demonsrations that day, from 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Federal Courthouse on New Bern Ave. and from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at State Capitol (east side).

Here's a sampling of the slogans from the many hand-made signs:

Socialism
Trickle Up Poverty

Give Me Liberty
Not Debt"

Free People
for
Free Enterprise"

Yes
Free Markets
No
Free Loading

Honk if I'm Paying Your Mortgage

Party like it's 1773 ...

... tomorrow from noon to 2 p.m. at the State Capitol. east side entrance. This demonstration is organized by the NC New American Tea Party, with support from Americans for Prosperity NC and other tax reform groups.
More info here.

Wake LP Convention Tonight

Location: Tir Na Nog, 218 S Blount St., downtown Raleigh

Time: 6:30 pm

Sign-up (not required):
http://libertarian.meetup.com/18/calendar/9784596/

Agenda

Introductions and Socializing

Welcome by the Wake LP Chair, Fernie Williams

RTN Production Group Report

Wake LP Issues Committee Report, Stephanie Watson

* Speaker on Upcoming Tea Parties in Raleigh

* Speaker Mike Munger

Revision of Accounting Practices, Stephanie Watson

Election of Officers - Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary

Elect Delegate Chair for LPNC Convention

Motions from the floor

Cary disses IRV

The Cary Town Council decided not to continue the IRV pilot program last night. After listening to more than a dozen city residents support IRV, and following a long discussion where most council members admitted it was clear the voters approved of the system, the council voted to adopt the "non-partisan plurality" mode of election.

This means one election, with the person getting the most votes declared the winner. The council is required to conduct another public hearing before officially adopting this plan. The council may modify the election mode by setting a minimum vote threshold. If the candidate with the most votes does not achieve that number, there would be a runoff. The council could also use IRV as the runoff system.

LibertyTube TV: Mandatory Medication

“Should a free society be medicated involuntarily?” The latest episode of LibertyTube TV features an interview with a local dentist, Dr. Mike Fleming, who expresses concerns about fluoridation of public water supplies and the possibility of overexposure to fluoridation from multiple sources. There's also a brief history of how water fluoridation came to be, some information about health effects of fluoride, and a little about the fluoridation process at a local water treatment facility.



LibertyTube TV is produced by Dean Garris and Alex Scholz. It's broadcast in Raleigh on the local cable channel RTN-10. It also airs on The People's Channel in Chapel Hill. You can find an archive of past episodes on blip.tv.

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Your local Libertarian Party statements on water fluoridation

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina opposes fluoridation as mass medication and added a plank on this issue to the LPNC platform in 2008: “The LPNC calls for an end to fluoridation of public water supplies within the state. Fluoride supplementation should be left up to families and individuals, not provided by one-size-fits-all dosing of public water supplies.”

The Libertarian Party of Wake County (NC) also included the following statement in our list of positions on local issues: “End fluoridation of local public water supplies, and support the right of consumers to make their own decisions about supplemental fluoride, with the understanding that one-size-fits-all dosing is not appropriate for all families and individuals.”

Cary public hearing on IRV

From FairVote

The Cary Town Council has a public hearing on Instant Runoff Voting set for March 12. IRV allows voters to rank candidates, prevents low-turnout runoffs, and saves taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. In 2007, Cary taxpayers saved more than $28,000 with instant runoff voting, by avoiding a separate runoff in District B! Savings in a citywide runoff would be much higher.

In 2007 exit polls, only 28% of Cary voters wanted to keep the previous system where voters could only vote for one candidate. 81% found instant runoff voting very easy to understand.

IRV has been endorsed by the NC Libertarian Party and the NC League of Women Voters.  The system also has strong support from the State Board of Elections.

Cary was one of two municipalities that participated in a test of IRV. According to sources, the council is "undecided" on  continuing the pillot program for another election. FairVoteNC is urging Cary residents to turn out in numbers for the public hearing, and to call, write or e-mail  town council members (council@townofcary.org) to express support

The hearing is March 12 at 6:30 pm in the council chambers at 316 N Academy St

More info at NCVotes123.com.