Document:California Press Release 20 February 2001 Libertarians Elect New State Officers
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- ADVISORY FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
- 14547 Titus Street, Suite 214
- Panorama City, CA 91402
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- For immediate release: February 20, 2001
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- For additional information:
- Juan Ros, Executive Director
- Phone: (818) 782-8400
- Mailto:director@ca.lp.org
- Web: http://www.ca.lp.org/
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Libertarians elect new state officers at party convention
SAN JOSE -- Delegates to the Libertarian Party of California's annual convention -- held this past weekend in San Jose at the Doubletree Hotel -- elected the state officers that will lead the party for the next two years.
Aaron Starr of Simi Valley won a three-way race for state chairman in an election that represented the Libertarian Party of California's first use of an innovative voting system known as Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) in the party's internal elections.
Under IRV, voters rank the candidates in their order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes cast, the candidate with the lowest vote total is eliminated and that candidate's second-choice votes are transferred to the remaining candidates in the race -- in effect, holding a runoff without the need for additional balloting. The process repeats until one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast.
In the first round, Starr received 41% of the vote, while candidates Brian Lee Cross of Orange received 36% and Jeffrey Sommer of Hayward received 23%. In the second round, Sommer's votes were redistributed, giving Starr 49%, just shy of a majority. Cross received 45% while "None of the Above," an option required on every ballot by party voting procedures, received 5%. Cross was then eliminated and his votes redistributed, giving Starr a clear victory in the third round with 77%. "None of the Above" received 22%, with write-ins splitting the remaining 1%.
Starr replaces Mark Hinkle of Morgan Hill, who served as state chairman since 1997 and was not seeking reelection.
Rodney Austin of Fresno was reelected to a second term as Northern Vice Chair by acclamation in an unopposed race.
Mark Selzer of Los Angeles was elected Southern Vice Chair with 95% of the vote. "None of the Above" received 5%.
Sandi Webb of Simi Valley, who served two terms on that city's Council from 1990-1998, was reelected to a second term as Secretary by acclamation in an unopposed race.
Lori Adasiewicz of Sacramento was elected Treasurer with 82%. "None of the Above" received 14%, with the remaining 4% going to write-ins.
In addition to the five state officers, five At-Large members to the state's Executive Committee -- the body in charge of state party affairs -- were elected to one-year terms. They are:
- Elizabeth Brierly of San Jose
- Ted Brown of San Gabriel
- Doug Scribner of Costa Mesa
- Starchild of San Francisco
- *Daniel Wiener of Simi Valley
Al Carlan of Rancho Palos Verdes and Bruce Dovner of Torrance were elected At-Large Alternates to the state Executive Committee.
About 150 delegates and interested Libertarians attended this year's convention. For summaries of all convention business sessions, visit the Libertarian Party of California web site at http://www.ca.lp.org.