The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin (LPWI) is enraged by the comments made by the Wisconsin Election Commission Chairperson (WEC) Ann Jacobs in their meeting this week. In a painfully routine meeting to certify ballot access for this fall’s elections, Commissioner Jacobs used a potential hypothetical as a reason to deny ballot access to all third-party candidates.
“My concern is we put them on the ballot, the first Tuesday in October comes, and they don’t have the ability to nominate electors and that’s upheld and now these people have voted for an ineligible party person…But now, what you are proposing, is the risk that we put them on the ballot this happens because they clearly can’t comply with [state law] 8.18, I don’t think that part’s in dispute, and then now their vote has been essentially taken away from them…We are setting up our voters to throw away their votes.” – Commissioner Jacobs
In response to Commissioner Jacob’s apparent misinterpretation of state law, Commissioner Don Millis replied:
“Even if that’s true, you are making a judgment call for people out there who might want to vote for a third party. I think many people vote for a third party knowing that they are not going to win, that they are highly unlikely to win but they want to send a message. And what you would do is not even give them the chance to send a message.” – Commissioner Millis
The LPWI believes in the strongest terms that it should be in the hands of the voters to determine which parties deserve their votes, not a six-person, unelected board. All parties should be granted ballot access in any race they choose to run in. A vote for a third-party candidate is never a wasted vote. It is a declaration to the system that you care enough about the process to vote, and you reject the duopoly candidates from the two “major” parties. For many people, their last, best outlet of free speech is their vote. WEC Chairperson Jacobs wants to take that away from the 56,000 Wisconsin voters who chose independent, third party, or write-in candidates in the 2020 presidential election.
