After many long months the voters of Dunbarton have finally been heard. On Friday, June 4, the Secretary of State's office finally certified the 276 nominating papers collected from Dunbarton voters last summer as part of the official count to have the names of Libertarians Ken Blevens for U.S. Senate and Howard Wilson for Congress (2nd district) on the November 2010 ballot.

These nominating papers have been in limbo due to a new state law which for the first time limited when such papers could be signed to the year of the election. The signatures were collected before the law was changed but were initially rejected by the state since they were not turned in until after the law was changed, even though they had been certified by the local supervisors of the checklist as valid. Hearings on the matter were held in the town and in front of the Ballot Law Commission in April.

Ken Blevens, who collected the signatures, was very pleased with this news, "I've been working with the great people of Dunbarton, the town was very receptive to my case that these signatures are valid and reflect the will of the voters to have a real choice on the November ballot. I'm glad the Secretary has finally seen the wisdom of respecting their wishes and certifying the nominating papers."

The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire continues to collect voter signatures to place all its candidates on the November ballot. They need to collect 3000 signatures by early August. Party chairman Richard Tomasso commented, "It is a shame that New Hampshire is the only state in the country that continues to make ballot access harder for independent and minor party candidates, but we'll commend Secretary Gardner for this decision and press on to give Granite State voters the choice of candidates that represent both fiscal responsibility and civil liberties."

More information about Libertarian candidates in New Hampshire is available at lpnh.org/candidates