It may be legal but it is not fair that all Kentucky taxpayers pay for the primary elections for only two political parties. In Kentucky, primary elections are closed, meaning that only registered party members can participate. When voters go to the poles on Primary Tuesday (5/21/2019) they will be nominating the candidates for either the Democrat or Republican parties. This is the way the Dems and Reps in the Kentucky State Legislature like it. The primary election will cost taxpayers an estimated $12 Million. The third largest party in the state, the Libertarian Party of Kentucky, met in Gilbertsville to select its nominees. The Libertarians didn’t cost the taxpayers a dime.
We don’t think it’s fair that taxpayers pay only for the selection of two party candidates, but not Libertarian candidates. The selection of party candidates is the responsibility of the party, not the taxpayers. We believe the taxpayers should not be burdened with the expense of any political party decisions. Taxpayers should not pay for Libertarian or any other candidate nominations. Let’s give the taxpayers a break.
Until a federal judge intervened, the 2019 Libertarian nominees were effectively barred from the General Election by more political shenanigans in Frankfort. In March of this year the Kentucky State Legislature and Governor Bevin passed and signed House Bill 114. It retroactively moved the filing deadline for third party candidates from April to January. Federal District Judge William O. Bertelsman ruled against the Bill and ordered the Kentucky Board of Elections to accept the filing statements of five Libertarian candidates. These Libertarians will appear on the General Election ballot, November 5, 2019:
John Hicks – Governor
Ann Cormican – Lieutenant Governor
Kyle Hugenberg – State Auditor
Joshua Gilpin – Agriculture Commissioner
Kyle Sweeney – Boone County Clerk
