In 1972, the party considered suing county clerks in Placer and Butte counties for refusing to allow voters to register as Libertarians.[9] In 1978, Ed Clark, who had been the affiliate's chairman from 1973 to 1974 and later the national presidential candidate in 1980, ran as an independent for governor of California to gain party recognition and received over five percent.[10] However, the Secretary of State ruled that the two percent requirement was for retaining party recognition and not gaining party recognition and that since Clark had run as an independent and not a Libertarian it would not count either way.[11] The party filed a lawsuit against the decision, but it was first dismissed then ruled against on appeal. The Libertarian Party of California has hosted the Libertarian National Convention in 1977, 1979, 1980, and in 2000.
Participation of "independent" voters
Since January 2001, California has had a "modified" closed primary system in which political parties can determine whether or not to allow voters who are not affiliated with any party (i.e. "independent") to participate in the party's primary. The passage of Proposition 14 limited this "modified" closed primary system to primaries for President of the United States, starting with the 2012 primaries. For the first 15 years of the "modified" closed primary system, the California Libertarian Party did not allow "independent" voters to vote in Libertarian primaries. However, beginning with the 2016 Libertarian Party presidential primaries, the California Libertarian Party has allowed "independent" voters to vote in its presidential primaries.[12]
Current elected officials
All current Libertarian Party elected officials are in "nonpartisan" elected offices, meaning that the candidates' partisan affiliation is not listed on the ballot.
Libertarian voter registration in the state of California has experienced significant growth.[18]
Year
Registered voters
Voter gain or loss from previous year
2021
204,345
8,237
2020
196,108
42,760
2019
153,348
11,980
2018
141,368
93
2017
141,461
1,656
2016
139,805
17,929
2015
121,876
1,072
2014
120,804
11,168
2013
109,636
900
2012
108,736
16,490
2011
92,246
1,135
2010
91,111
7,748
2009
83,363
211
2008
83,574
154
2007
83,420
45
2006
83,465
503
2005
83,968
5,649
2004
89,617
77
2003
89,540
955
2002
90,495
2,865
2001
93,360
1,540
2000
94,900
12,561
1999
82,339
Governance
The Libertarian Party of California is a "political party that has detailed statutory provisions applicable to its operation", which are in division 7, part 3 of the California Elections Code.[19][20] The Libertarian State Central Committee, the governing body of the Libertarian Party of California, functions pursuant to its standing rules and bylaws.[21] The regular officers of the Central Committee are the chairman, two regional vice chairmen, secretary, and treasurer.
County central committees
There are semi-autonomous county central committees for many of California's 58 counties. The counties which currently have active affiliates are as follows:
^Rothbard, Murray Newton (1978). For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Collier Books. p. 153. ISBN9780020746904. Even more remarkably, the Libertarian party achieved this growth while consistently adhering to a new ideological creed – "libertarianism" – thus bringing to the American political scene for the first time in a century a party interested in principle rather than in merely gaining jobs and money at the public trough.
^Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee (1989), 489 U.S. 214Archived March 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. "The State of California heavily regulates its political parties. … The California Elections Code (Code) provides that the 'official governing bodies' for such a party are its 'state convention,' 'state central committee,' and 'county central committees,' …"
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