By Brad Hessel

Democratic voter registration continued to grow in Wake County in the first half of 2021, while Republican registration declined, a trend in stark contrast to what’s happening statewide. For the first time ever, as far back as the publicly posted N.C. State Board of Elections records go (1993), registered Democrats exceeded registered Republicans in Wake by more than 100,000. 

If the current trend holds through the second half of the year, it will be the fifth consecutive year the Democrat’s  growth has outpaced the Republicans in Wake.

The Libertarian Party of Wake County elected a new executive committee at its annual county convention on April 21. The new officers are Travis Groo, chair; Patrick Bowersox, vice chair; John Underwood, secretary; Steve Prins, treasurer, and; Dee Watson, at-large.

The new officers will serve a two-year term.

The convention also elected delegates to the state Libertarian Party Convention to be held June 18 to 20 at the Greensboro Shrine Club. WakeLP has the largest county delegation.

Under the leadership of outgoing chair David Ulmer, Wake Libertarians have steadily increased the number of candidates running in the county. They ran seven people for the General Assembly in 2016, 14 in 2018, and 13 in 2020.

The collective vote for Libertarian candidates in Wake County set a new all-time record high in 2020. Most voters in Wake could vote for Libertarians for U.S. President and Vice-President, U.S. Senate and House, and both state House and Senate.

The Libertarian Party is the third-largest party in North Carolina. Our vision is a free, peaceful, and prosperous North Carolina where every individual has the opportunity to pursue their unique vision of a rewarding and enriching life.

The annual Libertarian Party of Wake County Convention is set for April 21 at 7 p.m. in our usual meeting place, Tobacco Road Sports Cafe. Wake Libertarians will be able to attend both in-person and online via Zoom.

Business includes electing a new executive committee, including a chair, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, and one at-large member. We will also review the Plan of Organization and select delegates to the LPNC State Convention in June.

You must pre-register and provide an e-mail address you can access during the convention if you expect to attend as a delegate.

The WakeLP Executive Committee decided to use an online balloting system, OpaVote, to manage votes and elections at the 2021 WakeLP Convention, pending the delegates' consent. You would need access to the internet to receive e-mails and navigate to the balloting website to record your votes during the meeting. This holds for both remote and in-person delegates. There is free WiFi at Tobacco Road.

WakeLP Plan of Organization

We'll be considering two proposals to edit and amend the WakeLP Plan of Organization. 

The first is basic grammar and style changes to tighten the language. This proposal also includes a substantive amendment to add to the treasurer's duties the responsibility to fulfill the legal obligations required by NC law. Please read it here.

The second proposal is to amend the plan to implement ranked-choice voting for all our elections. Please read it here.

If you plan to attend as a delegate or are just interested, please read both proposals. You can post comments if you wish. You can review the current plan.