For Immediate Release Thursday, May 12, 2016
Delegates to the Libertarian National Convention, who are selected by their respective state Libertarian affiliates, will select the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees. The convention will be called to order on Friday, May 27 in Orlando, Florida and is expected to adjourn Monday, May 30.
Presidential nominations will begin at approximately 2:30 P.M. ET on Saturday, May 28. A presidential debate will be heldthat evening at8:00P.M.
The election for the presidential nomination is expected to occur on Sunday morning, May 29. The vice presidential election is expected to take place shortly thereafter on Sunday.
Per the party’s convention rules, to be nominated for president or vice president, a candidate must collect the signatures of at least 30 registered delegates submitted via a token, which is dispensed when delegates register in person at the convention. Each delegate may nominate one candidate for each office.
The nominee is chosen with successive rounds of balloting, using as many ballots as necessary, until a candidate wins a majority of votes. If no candidate attains a majority on a given ballot, any candidates polling less than 5 percent, plus the candidate with the fewest votes, are struck from subsequent ballots.
The vice presidential candidate is selected in the same manner, except that the presidential nominee may address the convention after vice presidential nominations have been made, but before voting has begun, for the purpose of endorsing or objecting to any of the vice presidential nominees.
Regardless of the presidential nominee’s preference, the delegates have the final say on who the vice presidential nominee will be.
The signatures collected for presidentialand vice presidentialnominations are also used to determine which candidates are included in their respective debates. To be included in debates, a candidate must receive the signatures of at least ten percent of the number of registered delegates .
A debate of vice presidential candidates will take place on the evening of Friday, May 27 at 7:00 P.M.
An estimated 900 or more delegates will be credentialed and eligible to vote for the party’s nominees. Delegate slots are awarded in proportion to the number of dues-paying national Libertarian Party members in each state and also the number of general election votes received in each state for the previous Libertarian presidential candidate.
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