Libertarian Party

Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr

Voters in Kentucky are likely to have another choice in the presidential race, come November's general election, as Libertarian candidate Bob Barr, of Georgia, is clearing more hurdles to ballot access.

As reported earlier by PolitickerKY.com, Libertarian party canvassers and activists collected more than the required number of signatures to secure ballot access for Barr, a former U.S. Rep.

The AP now reports the signatures have been officially submitted and necessary paperwork has been filed with the Secretary of State's office.

If no successful challenge is mounted to the signatures - which were collected jointly for ex-Libertarian Senate candidate Sonny Landham - Barr should secure a spot on Kentucky's ballots.

Former U.S. Senate candidate Sonny Landham: Campaign Photo

Former U.S. Senate candidate Sonny Landham, of Ashland, has released details about his forthcoming "voter registration block party" in west Louisville later this month.

Food and drink will be provided by Landham and fellow organizer Amelia Moore at the August 23 event, which will run from 12 to 6 pm.

The party will be held on Magazine Street, on the block between 23rd and 24th Streets.

Landham announced the event even after he suspended his candidacy for Senate earlier this month. Landham had clinched the Libertarian Party's nomination for Senate and was likely to be on the state's ballots, after canvassers collected the required number of petition signatures to secure access.

The Libertarian Party of Kentucky will reconsider its endorsement of Senate candidate Sonny Landham Wednesday evening, just days after initially disassociating their party from his bid. This news comes after the office of Kentucky's secretary of state announced yesterday that Landham would need 5,000 new petition signatures to secure ballot access to run as an independent.

"We're really stuck," said Libertarian Party chair Ken Moellman. "We don't necessarily want to kick him off the ballot."

The requisite signatures for Landham's ballot access were already reportedly obtained by Libertarian canvassers, but - without the Libertarian endorsement - Landham would need original signatures for an independent candidacy.

With an August 12 deadline for petition submissions, Moellman has said obtaining 5,000 new signatures in that window would be "impossible."

The Libertarian Party of Kentucky has obtained the number of raw signatures necessary to secure ballot access for its candidates, the party's chair told PolitickerKY.com in an email today.

Paid canvassers and volunteer activists have submitted about 5,600 signatures to party organizers, according to state Libertarian Party chairman Ken Moellman.

If approved, the signatures would put the names of former actor Sonny Landham, of Ashland, and former U.S. Rep Bob Barr, of Georgia, on the state's ballots as Libertarian candidates for Senate and president, respectively.

The submission of 5,000 signatures per candidate to the Secretary of State's office is technically sufficient to gain ballot access in Kentucky, though Libertarian activists earlier noted that many signatures are challenged and seeking a total beyond the official mark is typically necessary.

Moellman indicated that he expects between 7,000 to 8,000 total signatures to be submitted by the completion of the ballot accesss campaign.

The candidacy of former actor Sonny Landham for the U.S. Senate was the product of a rapid search by the Libertarian Party of Kentucky that began just over two weeks ago and culminated when his nomination for the race was approved on Sunday evening.

Libertarian Party of Kentucky Chair Ken Moellman said his organization was contacted by the national Libertarian Party to recruit a candidate earlier this month that would compliment former U.S. Rep Bob Barr's run as the party's presidential nominee.

Now, the state party is hoping the Landham and Barr ticket can gain traction, particularly by siphoning off Republican votes across the state in some specific areas.

"We are looking specifically at the 4th [Congressional] District," Moellman told PolitickerKY.com. "A great number of Republicans in that area are angry about fiscal conservatism being dropped by the modern Republican Party."