by Brian Irving

North Carolina will continue its tradition of unopposed elections in 2016. Seventy-two General Assembly candidates were either "elected" at the close of filing Dec. 21 or will be elected in the March primary. So in November nearly half of North Carolina voters will have no choice about who represents them in Raleigh. 

This is one of the reason I and six other Wake county Libertarians have decided to run for the General Assembly. 

The typical reaction from political groups is to blame gerrymandering for this perversion of representative government. The News & Observer had several stories with that theme. While it's true gerrymandering is a cause, there's another more significant reason – highly restrictive ballot access laws. It's very difficult for a party – other than the Democrats or Republicans – to get on the ballot. It's nearly impossible for independent candidates to do so. 

Political commentators and the mainstream media generally ignore this cause. Perhaps it's because they are invested in perpetuating the “two-party” system. North Carolina's highly restrictive ballot access laws effectively disenfranchise nearly a third of North Carolina voters, the unaffiliated, the fastest growing voter block. These barriers are more effective at voter suppression than any other method. 

Most voters don't realize how the establishment parties manipulate the system through gerrymandering and restrictive ballot access. To qualify for the ballot a “new” party must collect in excess of 90,000 signatures. To run for statewide office without a party label you must hurdle the same barrier. Anyone who wants to challenge an unopposed incumbent in a legislative district or local office, needs to collect anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 signatures from registered voters. 

It's not gerrymandering, voter IDs, or early voting limitations that disenfranchises NC voters. It's our ballot access lockout. 

There will be 18 Libertarians on November ballots across the state, including candidates for the state's top three officers, governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate.

Lon Cecil, 69, of High Point, a retired engineer, is the Libertarian candidate for governor. J.J. Summerell, 58, of Greensboro, a benefits communications and enrollment firm manager and state party chair, is the party's candidate for lieutenant governor.

Sean Haugh will run for the U.S. Senate against Richard Burr and a Democrat candidate to be determined. Also at the Federal level, C.L. Cooke is the Libertarian candidate for U.S. House District 1. 

A dozen candidates will run for the state General Assembly, six in the Senate and six in the House. In Wake, Libertarians  will contest seven of the county's 16 state legislative districts. Two Libertarians are running for county commission.

In an interesting twist, Wesley Casteen is the Democratic candidate for U.S. House District 7. Casteen was the Libertarian candidate for that seat in 2014. He will face Republican incumbent David Rouzer.

Full list of candidates here.

The state's distressful history of unopposed elections will continue in 2016. Nearly one-third of the General Assembly candidate who filed were effectively elected when the filing period closed. After the March 15 primary, that "unopposed election rate" will increase to 43 percent. 

In the 120-member House, 41 members have no primary or general election opponent. In the 50-member Senate, 13 Senators will also get a free pass for both the primary and general elections. The primary will decide an additional 16 House and 2 Senate seats. So essentially in 57 state House districts and 15 state Senate districts the voters will have no choice in November. 

Lon Cecil, 69, of High Point, a retired engineer filed today for the Libertarian nomination for governor. He was joined by J.J. Summerell, 58, of Greensboro, a benefits communications and enrollment firm manager, who filed the Libertarian nomination for lieutenant governor.

Sean Haugh, 55, of Durham, also filed for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Richard Burr. Haugh was the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014.

Several Wake Libertarians also filed for state General Assembly seats in the county today. They are:

• Susan Hogarth, Senate 17 
• Brian Lewis, House 11 
• Brian Irving, House 36 
• Olen Watson, House 38 
• David Ulmer, House 49

Two more Libertarians plan to file Friday: Brad Hessel, Senate 15 and  Rob Rose, House 37  

If no one else files for these offices by noon Monday, Dec. 21, they will be declared the official Libertarian candidates.

Dear Muslim Republicans, 

I share your outrage and hurt at Donald Trump’s recent comments and policy suggestions about Muslims. I share your outrage and hurt that he still is polling well among Republicans. I share your outrage and hurt that we should even have to discuss such matters. But obviously we do. 

Freedom of religion is one of our most sacred American values, protected by our Constitution. Never should someone be disparaged, profiled, or have their rights infringed upon because of their religious faith. Republicans like to talk a good game about our Constitution but, clearly, many are making an exception when it comes to religious liberty. This is quite sad and it is this kind of double standard that has caused so many liberty-loving people to leave the Republican Party and find a better home in the Libertarian Party. 

Read more at LP.org