The primary focus of the Libertarian Party of Rhode Island is on growing our state membership and finding candidates to run for local office. As an affiliate member of Region 8, some have suggested it would be appropriate for the LPRI to weigh in on the current situation in New Hampshire. However, absent a call from the LPRI Executive Committee to call a special meeting to discuss this issue, the position of the Libertarian Party of Rhode Island will not be determined until our regularly scheduled meeting on July 12th.
As the State Chairman, however, I feel it is important at this time to affirm some features of our state bylaws that are relevant to the current situation:
Article V, Section 9 of LPRI’s Bylaws designates access to all digital account login information to the state’s Executive Committee, so there is no way for elected Executive Committee members to be excluded from our social media accounts by the national LP or any of the affiliates of Region 8.
The LPRI membership information is maintained by the Secretary of the LPRI Executive Committee, Katherine Revello. For those who are unfamiliar with some of our recent initiatives, the LPRI utilizes our own membership database, separate from the national LP CiviCRM program, which is funded as part of our state operating budget and 100% controlled by the Executive Committee per Article V, Section 9. Therefore, there is no way for the national LP or any of the affiliates of Region 8 to deny our Executive Committee members from accessing our member lists.
Finally, to ensure continuity, LPRI’s Executive Committee Members are elected for two-year alternating terms with the Chairman and the Secretary being elected on odd years and the Vice-Chairman and the Treasurer being elected on even years. The At-Large Executive Committee Member only serves for a one-year term, and so is up for election every year.
Ultimately, the Libertarian National Committee is the only entity that has the authority to revoke the status of a state affiliate party, so the issue in New Hampshire will be decided by our elected National Committee representatives, whose contact info can be found here: https://www.lp.org/libertarian-national-committee/. If members of the LPRI wish to express their feelings on this issue, I would direct them to the National Executive Committee, or our At-Large or Region 8 Representatives to the National Committee.
Billy Hunt
Chairman, LPRI