From: "Alan Fanning" <apfanning@psn.net>
So what do you think of them apples? Also has anyone been in touch with the Browne campaign to suggest they schedule a visit to the ALP convention?
The abhorrence of the gold standard is inspired by the superstition that omnipotent governments can create wealth out of little scraps of paper. -- Ludwig von Mises
Move follows ruling that Valley faction is the real party
By Mike McCloy
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 29, 2000
Libertarians may pull out of Arizona's Feb. 22 presidential preference primary, leaving only Republicans to vote.
The development follows a Maricopa County Superior Court ruling Thursday that established a Valley faction of Libertarians as the real Libertarian Party of Arizona.
"We'll be in charge," said Ernie Hancock, Libertarian chairman for Maricopa County. "And there will be no Libertarian to vote for in the Arizona presidential preference primary."
State Elections Director Jessica Funkhouser said Friday that she is awaiting advice from Attorney General Janet Napolitano. But Funkhouser, an attorney, pointed out that the court did not bar Libertarians from voting in the presidential primary.
County Elections Director Karen Osborne said Libertarians will participate. "I've already printed the ballots," Osborne said. "There isn't a way, without a court order, to stop what we're doing."
Only Republicans and Libertarians are certified for the Feb. 22 primary. Democrats will hold their own vote because they are banned by national party bylaws from picking presidential candidates until March 11.
Superior Court Judge Robert Myers was called upon to settle the dispute from the party's annual convention in April.
The factions argued over authority to run the party and participation in the taxpayer-funded presidential preference primary. The Valley group shunned the primary; the Tucson group and the national Libertarian Party embraced it.
Both the Tucson and Valley group claimed a right to the Maricopa County voter registration list. Osborne gave it to Myers and asked him to decide which faction is legitimate.
The judge said most registered convention delegates, as required by party by-laws, had failed to approve a shift to the Tucson group as the official party.
So the voter list goes to Hancock's group, which has decided there will be no Libertarian participation in the Arizona primary, even though more than 6,000 Libertarian ballots have been printed for Maricopa County alone.
"They should go to some recycling plant," Hancock said. "Libertarians will not use taxpayers' dollars for a beauty contest."