Libertarian David Montane is still waiting for the US Senate to appoint Bundlin' Dave Adelman Ambassador to Singapore!

Big News Kids,

Bundlin" Dave Adelman's appointment to US Ambassador for Singapore has suffered another set back as the wussies up on Capitol Hill in DC have called for a snow day tomorrow in anticipation of another record snowfall from the next winter storm. So much for dedication. Since we're tired of waiting and the Carter campaign is going full flambeaux on their efforts, we've decided to let the cat out of the bag and let the denizens and citizens of the 42nd know they have a third choice in the upcomming special election, Libertarian David Montane.

We've left some breadcrumbs over at Political Insider so head over and join the fun! Here's the post below:

Greetings All,

We're absolutely stunned over here in the secret underground Libertarian Command Center (LCC) at the complete lack of commentary on this important news article. Sure, the headline is about the trials and tribulations of Bundlin' Dave Adelman's oh so sluggish transition to be the next US Ambassador to Singapore. The real story is the special election that will be held to select Sen Adelman's replacement over in the 42nd district in Decatur once that do nothing congress gets on with approving his appointment.

In the 42nd district there are three candidates straining at the leash to pick off this soon to be open Senate seat. The front runner is currently democrat Jason Carter who is sitting on a mountain of campaign contributions and already running a very active campaign complete with yard signs, phone banks, canvassing, fundraisers and a prodigious social media effort. Democrat Tom Stubbs has also declared and will be the featured speaker this Sunday over at the Progressive Pot Luck in Decatur to present his vision for the 42nd and try to put a dent in the Carter juggernaut.

But for us, the big news is Libertarian Candidate David Montane. He has filed his DOI with the State Ethics commission and has been quietly raising funds and making contact's in the 42nd while waiting for the sitting Senator's confirmation process to be completed. We think the special election for the 42nd is going to be one of the most interesting elections the metro Atlanta area has ever seen as the well funded Carter organization marginalizes fellow democrat Tom Stubbs and tries to come to grips with the asymmetrical Libertarian campaign. Who's gonna talk about gender bias in the State Constitution? David Montane. Who's gonna talk about repealing the death penalty? David Montane. Who's gonna open the conversation on Medical Marijuana/Decriminalization? David Montane.

And that's for starters folks. So if you live in the 42nd, if you want to see some real change, if you want to see some real progress, check out Libertarian David Montane.

Vote for Smaller Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom! Vote for David Montane for State Senate!

Bludgeon & Skewer are sold on Senator Shafer's Senate Bill 359!

Hi Kids,

We're sold on Senator Shafer's Ballot Access Bill and have decided to pitch in on the effort to move it out of committee and onto the floor this session. Impossible you say? Probably. But that doesn't mean you can't send emails to the members of the Senate Ethics Committee urging them to get this important piece of legislation to the top of the heap. Here are the people that need to hear from you on this:

Committee Members
Moody, Dan (R-SS 56) Chairman
Hooks, George (D-SS 14) Vice Chairman
Crosby, John (R-SS 13) Secretary
Butler, Gloria S. (D-SS 55) Member
Douglas, John (R-SS 17) Member
Hamrick, Bill (R-SS 30) Member
Hill, Jack (R-SS 04) Member
Jackson, Lester G. (D-SS 02) Member
Stoner, Doug (D-SS 06) Member
Thomas, Don (R-SS 54) Member

You can slide over the the Senate Ethics committee web site by and follow the links to let the Ethics Committee members know your thoughts on SB 359. Remember to write early and write often, don't let this bill die in committee.

Libertarian Candidate for SecState David Chastain gets a Mention at Political Insider!

Hi Kids,

Big Dave Chastain, the Libertarian Candidate for Secretary of State got a mention over at Jim Galloway's Political Insider today. That's called earned media and for Libertarian's it's the hardest thing in the world to get. I've already left some breadcrumbs over there so all of you need to chime in and put up a post. But before you go, head over to the sidebar and help Karen Handel spend some of her money!





Here's the post:



Greetings All,

Such a pleasure to see Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State David Chastain mentioned at the mighty, mighty AJC, even if it is in (brackets). If you're looking for a candidate who is informed and determined to rid Georgia politics of the Diebold Menace, David's your man. If you want a Secretary of State who has pledged to hire competent staff instead of appointing lobbyist hacks to important positions, then David Chastain is your man. Check him out at http://chastain2010.com/ and see the third choice that Georgians have this fall.

Vote for Smaller Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom! Vote for David Chastain for Secretary of State!

Details of Senate Bill 359

Hi Kids,

We're still wrestling Senator Shafer's newly introduced senate bill on election reform in Georgia and decided the best thing to do was to put the whole thing up for the readership to take a gander at. It's a major improvement on Georgia's existing 1943 Jim Crow Ballot Access laws in terms of lowering the bar for more participation by third party groups in Georgia, but some discussion has to take place on the rather revolutionary concept of fusion this bill introduces.

The way we read it, a third party/single issue party could ally itself with either of the two established parties by endorsing a candidate acceptable to both. The plus side would be the inclusion of a at least a platform plank by the major party that reflects the stated desires of the third party/single issue party and enable the votes cast for the fusion candidate to be aggregated into one total. This would theoretically remove the wasted vote syndrome that has plagued third party efforts in the USA for decades.

The down side is that the two established parties get to maintain their preferred status, any third party/single issue group that throws in with the democrats or republicans would not be able to leverage their vote totals to achieve political body status, much less political party status if they remain under the umbrella of the major party they are allied with.

It is quite disappointing that these fusion efforts can only be performed by hooking up with one of the two major recognized political parties. The bill makes no provision for an alliance of third party/single issue parties to combine their numbers by endorsing the same candidate and pooling their resources to execute a campaign.

Still and all, the bill is major step forward and we would really like to see something from Senator Shafer on how he developed this bill and what his vision for it is. A copy of the entire thing is provided below. Have fun reading it and if you have a comment, fire away!





10 LC 28 5009
Senate Bill 359
By: Senator Shafer of the 48th

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT


To amend Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to primaries and elections generally, so as to provide a short title; to revise a definition; to provide that political bodies may nominate candidates for public office without the necessity of a nomination petition under certain circumstances; to provide that political bodies may conominate candidates of political parties; to provide for the aggregation of votes for such candidates; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Voter Choice and Ballot Access Act of 2010."

SECTION 2.
Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to primaries and elections generally, is amended by revising paragraph (25) of Code Section 21-2-2, relating to definitions, as follows:
"(25) 'Political party' or 'party' means any political organization which at the preceding:
(A) Gubernatorial election nominated a candidate for Governor and whose candidate for Governor at such election polled at least 20 percent of the total vote cast in the state for Governor; or
(B) Presidential election nominated a candidate for President of the United States and whose candidates for presidential electors at such election polled at least 20 percent of the total vote cast in the nation or the State of Georgia for that office.
Votes cast for a candidate of a political party for the office of Governor who is also the nominee of a political body shall not used in determining whether a political organization other than the political party qualifies for political party status under this paragraph. Votes for candidates of a political party for the office of presidential elector whose candidate for President of the United States was also nominated by another political organization shall not be used in determining whether a political organization other than the political party qualifies for political party status under this paragraph."

SECTION 3.
Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-137, relating to qualifying as independent or political body candidate and as political party candidate, as follows:
"21-2-137.
No person shall qualify with any political party as a candidate for nomination to any public office when such person has qualified for the same primary with another political party as a candidate for nomination by that party for any public office; nor shall a state, county, or municipal executive committee of any political party certify any person as the candidate of that party when such person has previously qualified as a candidate for nomination for any public office for the same primary with another political party. No person shall file a notice of candidacy as an independent or political body candidate for any public office when such person has qualified for the same office to be filled at the same election with any political party; nor shall any person qualify with any political party when such person has filed a notice of candidacy as an independent or political body candidate for the same office to be filled at the same election. A political body shall be authorized to nominate the nominee of a political party for an office as the nominee of the political body for the same office. In such case, the person so nominated shall file as the nominee of each of the political organizations by whom such person is nominated for the office."

SECTION 4.
Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-180, relating to manner of qualification, as follows:
"21-2-180.
Any political body which is duly registered as provided for in Code Section 21-2-110 is qualified to nominate candidates for state-wide public office by convention if:
(1) The political body files with the Secretary of State a petition signed by voters equal in number to 1 percent of the registered voters who were registered and eligible to vote in the preceding general election; or
(2) At the preceding general election, the political body nominated a candidate for state-wide office and such candidate received a number of votes equal to 1 percent of the total number of registered voters who were registered and eligible to vote in such general election."

SECTION 5.
Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-181, relating to filing of petitions generally, as follows:
"21-2-181.
Petitions to qualify political bodies to nominate candidates for state-wide public office by convention shall be filed with the Secretary of State and shall be signed by voters in the manner provided in this part. Such petitions shall provide sufficient space for the printing of the voter's name and for the voter's signature. No forms other than those prescribed in this part shall be used for qualifying a political body to nominate candidates for public office."

SECTION 6.
Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-184, relating to restriction on amendment or supplementation, as follows:
"21-2-184.
A petition to qualify a political body to nominate candidates for state-wide public office by convention shall not be amended or supplemented after its presentation to the Secretary of State for filing."

SECTION 7.
Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-186, relating to examination of petitions, as follows:
"21-2-186.
Petitions to qualify a political body to nominate candidates for state-wide public office by convention shall be examined and shall be subject to judicial review in the same manner as provided for candidates nominated by petition pursuant to Code Section 21-2-171."

SECTION 8.
Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-187, relating to holding of conventions, as follows:
"21-2-187.
Political bodies shall hold their conventions in accordance with Code Section 21-2-172 and candidates nominated for state-wide public office in convention shall file a notice of candidacy no earlier than 9:00 A.M. on the fourth Monday in June immediately prior to the election and no later than 12:00 Noon on the Friday following the fourth Monday in June as prescribed in Code Section 21-2-132; provided, however, that the political body must file its qualifying petition no later than 12:00 Noon on the second Tuesday in July following the convention as prescribed in Code Section 21-2-172 in order to qualify its candidates to be listed on the general election ballot; provided, further, that, for general elections held in the even-numbered year immediately following the official release of the United States decennial census data to the states for the purpose of redistricting of the legislatures and the United States House of Representatives, candidates nominated for state-wide public office shall file a notice of candidacy no earlier than 9:00 A.M. on the last Monday in July immediately prior to the election and no later than 12:00 Noon on the Friday following the last Monday in July as prescribed in Code Section 21-2-132; provided, further, that the political body must file its qualifying petition no later than 12:00 Noon on the first Monday in August following the convention as prescribed in Code Section 21-2-172 in order to qualify its candidates to be listed on the general election ballot."

SECTION 9.
Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-493, relating to computation, canvassing, and tabulation of returns, by adding a new subsection to read as follows:
"(m) The votes received by a candidate who is the nominee of a political party and one or more political bodies shall be aggregated in the final returns for the office sought by such candidate."

SECTION 10.
Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-499, relating to duty of Secretary of State as to tabulation, computation, and canvassing of votes for state and federal officers, by adding a new subsection to read as follows:
"(d) The votes received by a candidate who is the nominee of a political party and one or more political bodies shall be aggregated in the final returns for the office sought by such candidate."

SECTION 11.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

A Better Ballot Access bill is in the Hopper down to the State House!

Big, Big News Kids,

Georgia State Senate bill 359 has been thrown in the hopper for consideration by Senator Shafer of the 48th district! Lots of ins and outs but it reads like the 5% of registered voters requirement would be dropped to 1% of the registered voters. That's significant progress. Not as significant a 1% of the voters that actually voted in the preceding election, but a hell of a lot better than 5% of registered voters.

Section 2 will get you to start scratchin' your head as you get your mind wrapped around the idea that a Candidate could be the nominee of the republican party and the nominee of the Libertarian party at the same time. If such a bizarre event occurred the vote totals for the candidate could not be used to elevate the Libertarian Party from political body status to full fledged political party status because of the association with another major party. What I find interesting about this section of the bill is the idea that one candidate might be the nominee of two or more different parties or political bodies. Imagine Republicans paired up the Constitution Party and Campaign for Liberty, Democrats and Greens, and local Tea parties in every nook and hollow. Could a single candidate get the nominations of 30 different political groups in one election cycle? It's Machiavellian and I like it.

Section 3 says it's cool for one candidate to represent as many political parties/bodies as he wants to as long as the candidate files papers with each political body that nominates him. The rest of the bill is pretty good too. Like the part in section 9 that says all the votes the candidate gets will be aggregated into a final return.

So Kids, some progress is being made to drag the great State of Georgia into the 21st century. Kudos to Senator Shaffer for introducing this bill!

Now if we can only start the ball rolling on getting rid of the Diebold Menace....

The Fun Never Stops Over At Karen Handel's Old Fun Factory

Big News Kids,

Libertarian Dave Chastain forwarded us a copy of the the latest press release from the folks over at Voter Ga regarding yet another incident of heavy handed behavior by Ex-SecState Karen "What! Finish my Term?!" Handel. It seems that one of her last acts as SecState was to insist on slapping around former Chatham County Commissioner Jeff Rayno for turning in a supposedly bad petition signature in support of Candidate David Osbourne's attempt to get on the ballot to oppose Handel's buddy in Savannah, Helen Stone.

The original allegation presented at the 16 DEC 09 meeting by IG Shawn Lagrua was that Rayno had faked 200 petition signatures. During the course of the meeting it miraculously got reduced to one fake signature that Handel's IG could not produce for the members of the board to see. Good ol' Karen then told SEB member Kent Webb to make a motion to forward this case the Attorney General's office for investigation and prosecution which she seconded over the objections of another board member. Case closed for Candidate Handel so she could get back to the important business of finishing up her resignation to run full time for Governor and be the super ethical chick in the race.

But wait, there's more! This same cast and crew recently gave the citizens of Georgia the Laura Gallegos story which has been making the rounds on the blog-o-sphere and over in FaceBook land. Another tale of blaming Georgia's Diebold mess on someone else and making sure that Karen's buds don't get no heat. So what if some lower ranking employee has to take one for the team, the important thing is that Karen Handel and her Henchettes get to walk away clean. Being ethical and all.

A copy of the complaint is provided below and a link to Voter Ga is on the sidebar. Please drop by their site and get all the gory details about how Georgian's votes don't matter.

Former Commissioner Asks Justice Dept. to Investigate Constitutional Rights Violations by Handel, LaGrua


SAVANNAH, GA – Former Republican Chatham County Commissioner, Jeff Rayno, announced today that he is filing a letter of complaint with the U.S. Justice Dept. The complaint cites potential Constitutional violations committed by former Secretary of State (SOS) Karen Handel and her Inspector General (IG) Shawn Lagrua during the December 16, 2009 State Election Board (SEB) meeting. His complaint, which also cites SEB member Kent Webb, is the fourth one filed by four different citizens against Shawn LaGrua’s IG office in the last two months.

Rayno asserts in the complaint that his Sixth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution were violated when he was referred to the Attorney General’s office for a felony investigation without probable cause or evidence that he had done anything wrong. He described that he was refused details of the accusations against him and therefore, denied due process and the standard presumption of innocence afforded to all Americans. The transcript of the meeting appears to corroborate his claims.

During the meeting, LaGrua stated that Rayno submitted forged petitions he collected on a drive to help get Chatham County Commission candidate, David Osbourne, on the ballot for the general election. Rayno determined that only one of 200 signatures was in question and asked to see it. LaGrua could not produce it, but she still recommended to the board that Rayno be referred to the office of the Attorney General for further investigation and prosecution. Board member, David Worley, sought to remove Rayno from being referred due to lack of evidence but Chairwoman Handel disagreed and instructed Mr. Webb to make a motion. Mr. Webb then motioned to refer Rayno to the Attorney General’s office and then Handel seconded the motion to pass it despite opposition from Mr. Worley.
In the letter Rayno contends that his case is not isolated but highlights another example of a systemic problem in the IG office. He cited the case of Laura Gallegos, one of three other complainants, as an example. Gallegos was charged with five matters asserted against her for an election certification error committed by the Lowndes County Board of Elections. Potential violations committed by her supervisor were ignored in the investigation. Although Mrs. Gallegos’ case was eventually dismissed, she spent thousands of dollars on attorney fees, suffered a foreclosure and was terminated from her job.
Rayno stated that he believes these dubious investigations are politically motivated. He explained that he was collecting signatures for a candidate who opposed Helen Stone, an associate of Karen Handel, who escorted Mrs. Handel when she visited Savannah prior to her campaign. Laura Gallegos has also stated that her supervisor, Deb Cox, was on a first name basis with Karen Handel and had gone to lunch with her when she visited the office.
All complaints and their supporting documentation are available on the Complaints tab of the www.voterga.org web site. VoterGA plans to submit a corroborating letter to the Justice Department describing why they also believe that there is a systemic problem in the office of the Secretary of State.

# # #

Libertarian David Chastain has a Candidate Forum on 6 FEB 10

Big News Kids,

Libertarian David Chastain will participate in a Secretary of State Candidate forum scheduled for Saturday, 6 FEB 10. The forum is part of an extensive program put together by the fine folks over at the Georgia Christian Alliance and will feature a republican governor candidate forum, several big wigs from the state house and both US Senators from Georgia. An all star cast all around.

It's a fundraising event for the Alliance, so the tickets are $25.00 a pop. The coolest thing about this shindig is the fact that David will have his first opportunity to appear with the Interim SecState Brian Kemp as well as republican Candidate Doug McGinnitie and thus provide the people of Georgia with a first glimpse of his stands on the issues affecting the Office of the Secretary of State. It's a major appearance for David and we urge those of you who can attend to do so.