Rank the Vote
Following a discussion spanning several months, and similar actions by all three county affiliates, the State Board of the Libertarian Party of Delaware has voted to endorse the efforts of Rank the Vote Delaware to educate the public about ranked choice voting for eventual implementation in Delaware elections. LPD State Secretary Dayl Thomas also serves as the Secretary for Rank the Vote Delaware and introduced a motion to the State Board during the 2020Q4 State Board meeting which was tabled to allow County affiliates to weigh in first. Kent and Sussex affiliates passed endorsement motions at monthly meetings following that meeting. Jason Hoover, the chair of Rank the Vote Delaware, attended the New Castle County monthly meeting in February to explain their efforts and allay concerns that had been raised about the scope of the organization's efforts and how they might impact the LPD. As a result of his presentation, the New Castle party passed a resolution endorsing the organization and the State Board took up a motion ad hoc immediately following the meeting.
Spike Cohen
At the conclusion of the 2021Q1 State Board meeting, a resolution had been passed tentatively scheduling the 2021 State Convention for May, and to extend an invitation to 2020 VP Nominee Spike Cohen for our keynote speaker. The Board approved up to $1,000 to cover expenses while also passing a motion to allow for donations to be given to the party for the specific purpose of defraying Convention related expenses, including the expense of Mr. Cohen's travel and accommodations for the Convention. LPD Conventions have in recent years been hosted at the Kent County Theater Guild's Patchwork Playhouse in Dover. In light of the ongoing COVID pandemic and associated government restrictions, the Guild is unable to commit to any dates at this point in time. Spike's schedule was also booked for May, so the State Board passed an ad hoc resolution to move the date to June 5th. Following a conversation with Mr. Cohen's staff, the State Board also approved an additional $100 to cover Mr. Cohen's expenses so that he and his wife Tasha could join us in Dover. We have raised $950 so far and still need another $150 to reach our goal. You can donate at lpdelaware.org/p/donate.html. Please be sure to mark all donations for "Friends and Family" to avoid PayPal fees and include a comment designating your donation to the Convention fund.
Developing Efforts
In light of recent actions by Facebook and Twitter, the State Board has chosen to migrate its ad hoc discussions from FB Messenger to Signal. At the suggestion of a member, the webmaster is also looking into utilizing a Google Group for the motions and votes of these ad hoc meetings to enable members and the public to view the exchanges. Notice has been given for an AoA Amendment to require the State Board to use this mailing list for all motions and votes. After setting up this initial group, the webmaster is also setting up a group to distribute a monthly email newsletter including updates on State Board activities, pending legislation in the General Assembly, volunteer opportunities, outreach events, fundraising needs, meeting dates, and reports regarding the financial and membership situation of the state party. If you did not receive the link to this post through that mailing list already, you can sign up for it by joining the group at https://groups.google.com/g/lp-delaware. We are also encouraging members to join our new Discord Server.
Other Items
- The State Board has endorsed HB49.
- Facebook has suspended political and social issue related ads until further notice, therefore the State Board expanded the purview of the Social Media and Marketing Committee to allow them to purchase any ads within their budget instead of limiting them to Facebook boosting. An ad for our endorsement of HB49 is currently running on Google.
- The State Board released a statement opposing SCR8.