Oklahoma Libertarian Party

Oklahoma Libertarian Party
Chairperson	Seth Schuyler
Vice-Chair	Clark Duffe
Second Vice-Chair
Treasurer	Steve Long
Secretary	vacant
Member at-large
LNC Region	Unaffiliated
Founded	April 1972
Address	PO Box 14042 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74139-1042
Website	http://www.oklp.org/

Ballot Access

In 2004, the Oklahoma Libertarian Party filed suit against the state of Oklahoma for unfair election laws. The court case Beaver v Clingman was heard by the US Supreme Court in February. In February of 2007, the Oklahoma State Supreme refused to hear a challenge issued by the LP of OK.

Tattooing

Oklahoma remains the only state in the Union which has a ban on tattooing. In the recent years, the OKLP have been major proponents of the various bills in the house and senate which would decriminalize tattooing; however, an ultra-conservative legislature have always struck the bills down. In 2004, the Oklahoma Senate passed SB 806 30-15 which would decriminalize tattooing; however, the sister HB 1519 foundered in the house due to the Republican leader not allowing it to be heard. The OKLP continues to push for the full legalization of tattooing. Opponents claim that by legalizing tattooing, it will spread diseases such as HIV which causes AIDS; however, the OKLP asserts the libertarian ideal of bringing tattooing into the free market. By bringing it into the free market, just like illegal drugs, reputable businesses will compete to provide a low-cost, healthy, and secure product and service. The law was changed by the state legislature but is extremely restrictive and has been issued legal challenges by tattoo artists.

Tobacco Tax

The OKLP vehemently oppose the state's recent trend of intruding on the individual's right to smoke tobacco. The OKLP protested, lobbied, and got the message out about the crippling effects of an increased tax on tobacco; however, the 49th Legislature ratified HB 2660 which dramatically hiked the tax up on tobacco products.

Ballot Access

The largest hurdle for the OKLP is access to the ballot. Richard Winger of Ballot Access News, who is the nation's foremost expert on 3rd party politics agrees that Oklahoma has the strictest laws in the nation with regard to access to the ballot for 3rd parties. Oklahoma' Democrat and Republican parties essentially have a state run monopoly. The state is decided evenly along partisan districts and the two parties rarely offer each other any competition in the elections. In 2006 more than half of the Oklahoma State House seats went unchallenged.

In 2004 there were only two choices for President in Oklahoma, Senator John Kerry or President George W. Bush. In the same year Afghanistan had 18!! Not only is Oklahoma the hardest state to get on the ballot in America, but in countries that most people would think would be much more restrictive. The last election in Iraq, they fielded over 350 Presidential candidates! America is spreading Democracy around the world while forgetting to protect Democracy at home.

In 2004 the LP of OK filed a lawsuit, claiming the ballot access laws were unconstitutional. The lawsuit was appealed to the Oklahoma State Supreme Court, who refused to hear their case in February of 2007.

Paul Jacob faced charges related to ballot access efforts in Oklahoma. The events surrounding this were chronicled at freepauljacob.com.

Up to date information on Oklahoma ballot access can be found here.

Past Officials and Staff

Larry Brittain , treasurer (c. 2008)
Jimmy Cook, chair, vice chair (c. 2009)
Steve Galpin, chair
Robert Murphy, chair
Angelia O'Dell, chair (c. 2009)
Chris Powell, chair
D. Frank Robinson, founding chair
David Splinter, vice chair
Robert Stock, secretary
Matt Sweet, chair (c. 1994)
Mike Todd, chair (c. 1995)

External Links

• The OKLP Website
• The OKLP myspace page
• recent article about OKLP