The Chicago Sun-Times has recently provided some coverage of Libertarian ballot access efforts in Illinois.
On July 29, the Sun-Times published an article, “Libertarians work to stay on Illinois ballot.”
Here is a quote:
Brian S. Lambrecht knew the signatures he collected to get the Libertarian Party on the Illinois ballot this fall would be challenged.
But he didn’t necessarily expect he’d be accused of fraud for falsely claiming to live in the Addison home where he has in fact lived for nearly eight years — and, he points out, where he has been paying the mortgage.
The challenge was part of the usual election-year battle in Springfield, when the major parties try to knock their lesser counterparts off the ballot.
On August 1, the Sun-Times published an editorial, “Open door to third parties on ballot.”
Here is a quote from the editorial, talking about the unfair system:
Illinois should fix this now rather than wait on the courts, but nobody expects that. As we wrote on this issue back in 1990, “The sun may rise in the west before the Legislature ever corrects this injustice.”
All the fighting over signatures in every election cycle leaves little time for smaller parties to actually get out and talk about the issues.
We thought encouraging debate was the whole point of democracy.
