After four long months of petitioning for Ballot Access in West Virginia, on August 1, 2012 David Moran (Gubernatorial Candidate) and Michael S. Wilson (State Chair) presented 10,246 signatures to the Secretary of State (SOS) for validation – the Libertarian Party of West Virginia (LPWV) needed 7,135 valid signatures to allow David and Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson on the General Election Ballot.
The final count by the SOS lowered the submitted number to 10,019, and the County Clerks throughout the state invalidated 3,318 signatures, leaving a 434 signature deficit with only approximately 130 signatures remaining for validation.
In an effort to preempt exclusion, Michael S. Wilson and Karl Swisher (State Treasurer) filed a Freedom of Information Act Request on Friday August 17, 2012 to open the Secretary of State’s Office, the Voters Registration Database and the county reviewed petition sheets up for personal verification.
On Tuesday, August 21, Michael and Karl personally reviewed the invalidated signatures and presented findings that thirty-four (34%) percent of the invalidated signatures were in fact signed by registered voters and were valid. Thus providing an additional 1,128 signatures – three times the amount needed for inclusion.
To the credit of the Secretary of State’s staff, they agreed on thirty-two (32%) percent of our findings and at 4:56 p.m. announced that the Libertarian Candidates had successfully completed the requirements for Ballot Access.
This initial victory in 2012 has ensured that Gary Johnson and David Moran will appear on the General Election Ballot in West Virginia.
Should David Moran receive at least one (1%) percent of the votes cast for Governor in this election, the Libertarian Party will obtain ‘Major Party’ status in West Virginia and will be exempt from petitioning for inclusion on the ballot statewide for four years and so long thereafter as they continue to receive one (1%) percent for their Gubernatorial Candidates in future General Elections.
