From The Libertarian Party of Rhode Island:
Libertarian candidate for governor Elijah Gizzarelli will appear on the general election ballot this November.
After the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s office determined Gizzarelli did not collect enough verified signatures to qualify for ballot placement, Libertarian Party of Rhode Island (LPRI) chair William Hunt, acting in his private capacity, brought a successful challenge to the decision before the Board of Elections. The board found enough valid signatures had been improperly disqualified to qualify Gizzarelli for ballot placement.
“The private corporations, known as the Democrat and Republican parties, have a vested interest in keeping third parties off the ballot. Their influence in the General Assembly has helped to concoct a process to discourage efforts to challenge the status quo.” said Hunt of the challenge. “Undeterred, we fought to get Elijah on the ballot and proved our signatures to be sufficient and valid. Now comes the hard work of mobilizing the Libertarian voters in RI and ensuring they vote in November.”
LPRI’s Executive Committee voted earlier this year to endorse Gizzarelli, a veteran and West Warwick native, in his bid for governor.
Gizzarelli had the following to say about the state’s improper disqualification of ballot signatures he and volunteers collected.
“We were forced to collect 1,000 signatures in little over a week during what Governor McKee continues to insist is a public health state of emergency, just so the third largest party in the United States could have a candidate on the ballot. We turned in close to 1,300 signatures and were still denied saying not enough of them were valid.”
“So we fought. We wasted tons of man hours and party resources proving our case. In the end, it was undeniable that we met the arbitrary and overly burdensome standards. We won the appeal, but we lost a month of time and energy that could have been used campaigning. This is exactly the type of thing the old parties do in order to stifle competition and prevent voters from having any real choice of any consequence in elections.” Gizzarelli continued. “This must change and I ask all Rhode Islanders to stand with us against this corrupt two party system.”
Anyone wishing to know more about Gizzarelli or his campaign can visit www.eli4ri.com. For questions, contact LPRI Communications Director Katherine Revello at communications@lpri.us.
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