Update 2022/08/16
On August 16, the Libertarian National Committee passed the following resolution, without objection:
Whereas, The Libertarian National Committee has found no convincing evidence that the regularly scheduled annual convention of the Libertarian Party of Idaho (LPID) which took place on April 2, 2022, was invalid;
Whereas, The delegates at the April 2, 2022, LPID annual convention interpreted their own Bylaws and recognized the convention and its business as valid;
Whereas, LPID leadership elections were conducted at the April 2, 2022, LPID annual convention; and
Whereas, The LPID Judicial Committee determined that “The convention held on April 2, 2022, was a legitimate, valid, and effective Convention of the Libertarian Party of Idaho,” and that the officers and their successors, including Jayson Sorensen as the interim Chair, are the legitimate officers of the LPID;
Resolved, That the Libertarian National Committee recognizes the leadership elected at the April 2, 2022, LPID annual convention and their successors in the ordinary course of business as the legitimate representatives of the recognized Idaho affiliate, including interim Chair Jayson Sorensen.
Email ballot | Vote Record
Those who have asserted that the April 2 Convention was invalid have the opportunity to appeal this vote to the national Libertarian Party’s Judicial Committee. In the event that the appeal is filed, the legitimate Executive Board and Idaho Judicial Committee will participate in that appeal process as needed.
Regardless, this is confirmation from one additional body external to the Libertarian Party of Idaho, that our April 2 Convention was legitimate, and that any actions attempting to overturn it are invalid.
Update 2022/08/11
On August 11, the Libertarian National Committee held a special meeting to discuss the issues at hand, in order to determine which members of the LPID would be recognized by the National party as the Executive Board of the LPID.
The discussion was hosted via Zoom, and livestreamed to the Libertarian Party’s YouTube Channel.
Original Post
Recent events within the Libertarian Party of Idaho have caused serious conflict between some of the party’s officers. This has resulted in the expulsion of two prominent (now former) members of the party.
The decision of the Judicial Committee regarding the expulsion of these two members attempts to give a summary of the events in question. It is embedded below.
There is one mistake of fact in this decision, which was discovered after its publication. The current Vice Chair of the Party was not physically present at the Idaho Falls convention; he accepted the nomination for the position of Vice Chair through a phone call, and answered questions from the members at convention during that election. This mistake of fact does not affect the substance of the decision.
The decision makes reference to a previous opinion that had been released by the Judicial Committee. The Respondents had moved for the petition to be vacated, arguing that it was not brought in order by the appropriate process. The Judicial Committee denied the motion to vacate. The full opinion for that denial is embedded below.
These decisions are the result of a Petition filed by the State Central Committee. The two named individuals also gave a response. These are embedded below.
Also included with the petition was an opinion which State Central Committee member Todd Corsetti solicited from an attorney and parliamentarian at law firm Echo Hawk & Olsen, as a supporting document to the petition.
Upon receiving the petition, the Judicial Committee formed an Investigatory Subcommittee in order to learn more from both the Petitioner and the Respondents, as well as any other parties who could improve the JC’s understanding of the situation. One action of the Subcommittee was to organize interviews with the parties. The Respondents agreed to the interview under the condition that only one member of the Subcommittee would ask questions. The Petitioner agreed with no conditions.
One member of the subcommittee recorded both interviews. They can be found below. The interview with the Respondents has video blanked out for several seconds at several points, to protect unrelated information which was incidentally captured. No audio has been edited.
Interview with Petitioner
Interview with the Respondents
There are additional documents that contain specific details relevant to this process and decision. If you would like to know more, please Contact Us asking for more information, and the Chair of the Judicial Committee will reach out to help answer your questions.