Brawner: Libertarians Hunting For Signatures In Arkansas

Talk Business contributor and Arkansas News Bureau columnist Steve Brawner profiles supporters of the Libertarian Party of Arkansas, a group hunting for signatures to qualify candidates for the ballot in 2014.

Brawner writes:

Third parties say the deck is stacked against them. Since Republicans and Democrats always reach that 3 percent threshold in presidential and gubernatorial elections in Arkansas, only third parties must spend their resources just hunting for signatures every two years.

Last year, the Commission on Presidential Debates, composed entirely of Democrats and Republicans, decreed that only candidates with 15 percent support in the polls could participate. That meant only the major party candidates received that precious air time on four different nights across all the major networks.

Virtually all campaign donations, nationally and in Arkansas, go to Republicans and Democrats and their allies.

Brawner wonders if third parties, like Libertarians are inherently disadvantaged or do voters not find interest in their ideas.

Read more of his take at this link.