Let's Get Edward Snowden Elected to United States Congress

Discussion
1

If we cab get Snowden elected to Congress then he can return to the United
States for brief visits without fear of being arrested. This is because
Section 6 of the United States Constitution states:

Section 6

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their
Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the
United States.<http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/25/compensation-clause>
They
shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be
privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the
same;<http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/26/privilege-from-arrest>
and
for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in
any other Place.<http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/27/speech-and-debate-clause>

Now, to get him elected in New York, he would have to sign an acceptance.
It would be difficult to get him to sign because somebody would have to go
to Russia and find him to get him to sign. However, if he is already
registered to vote in New York State that would not be necessary. As best I
can determine he resided in Maryland and Hawaii before he defected to
Russia. I suspect that he is registered to vote in Maryland, where his
parents live. Could somebody check the voter registrations in Maryland to
see if he is registered to vote there? Getting him elected would not be
difficult if we can get him on the ballot, as everybody will vote for him.

Sam Sloan

2

Wow!

________________________________
From: Sam Sloan <samhsloan@gmail.com>
To: LPQC <LPQC@yahoogroups.com>; lpny_manhattan <lpny_manhattan@yahoogroups.com>; "lpny_discuss@yahoogroups.com" <lpny_discuss@...m>; lpkc <lpny_kings@yahoogroups.com>; LPSF Discussion List <lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com>; "manhattanlibertarians@yahoogroups.com" <manhattanlibertarians@yahoogroups.com>; "libertarian@yahoogroups.com" <libertarian@yahoogroups.com>; Eric <Eric@...>; Richard Winger <richardwinger@yahoo.com>; Donald Silberger <donaldsilberger@...>; Donald Silberger <DonSilberger@...>
Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 7:51 PM
Subject: [lpsf-discuss] Let's Get Edward Snowden Elected to United States Congress

If we cab get Snowden elected to Congress then he can return to the United States for brief visits without fear of being arrested. This is because Section 6 of the United States Constitution states:

Section 6
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their

Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the
United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be
privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

3

Great idea! I would support Edward Snowden for pretty much any office he was willing to seek, and getting him elected to Congress would be a huge symbolic victory.

  On a cautionary note though, it might not necessarily keep him safe from arrest in the United States; the authorities would presumably claim (have already claimed?) that what Snowden did *is* treason, and *is* a felony. And if this were the case, his opponents might argue that it would be pointless to elect him since he would not be able to serve. Also, must candidates be present in person to be sworn in, in order to get on the ballot?

Love & Liberty,
                                 ((( starchild )))

4

I do not know the law in California but I do know the law in New York.

In New York, if a person is registered to vote as a Republican for example,
then we can circulate petitions to run him as a Republican candidate. We do
not need to ask his permission to run and he does not need to sign
anything. If he does not want to run he must sign a declination to get off
the ballot..

For example, during the Lewinsky scandal I found that Monica Lewinsky was a
registered Democrat. Therefore I had the idea to get her on the ballot as a
Democratic Party candidate for US Congress. She probably would have been
elected. However, I did not have the money at the time to run her as it
required 3500 signatures. Now I do have the money but the idea is no longer
interesting.

If Edward Snowden were registered to vote in New York it would be a snap to
get him on the ballot. However, it is unlikely that he is registered in New
York. Since he is probably registered in Maryland we need to check there.

Campaign Finance records show that Edward Snowden donated $250 to Ron Paul
for President twice. Thus, we know that he is philosophically a Libertarian
and most likely a registered Republican.

Sam Sloan

5

Sam,

  If Edward Snowden is registered to vote, I'd guess it would be where he was living in Hawaii. I've written to the chair of the Hawaii LP (Tracy Ryan) to ask whether she has any info on this. Will let you know if I find out anything useful.

Love & Liberty,
                                 ((( starchild )))

6

Sam,

  If what you say is correct, I find it fascinating that it's possible in New York to run someone for Congress without their consent, requiring them to sign a declination if they want to get off the ballot. (Richard, do you know whether this is true elsewhere?) Your idea of running Lewinsky was a stroke of genius, and I'm sorry you didn't have the money to do it as I think it could have generated a ton of publicity. This is the kind of outside-the-box "guerrilla activism" I'd like to see libertarians doing more of!

  Running Snowden has similar potential, I believe, and doesn't raise the ethical questions that a Lewinsky campaign would have [(a) do we really *want* her in Congress and if not would it be ethical to campaign for her, and (b) would it be an act of aggression against her to make her a candidate (presumably) against her will and require her to take perhaps inconvenient action to get out of it?] The idea is definitely worth exploring!

Love & Liberty,
                                ((( starchild )))

7

Personally I find the idea that someone can be run for Congress without their consent to be one of those 'it's too good to be true ideas".

I seems more likely to me that anyone can NOMINATE someone else to run, but the nominee has to file a consent to serve or some other paperwork in order to get his/her name on the ballot. This is how it works in the condo assoc I live in. I can nominate John Doe to run for Board member, but John has to file a consent to serve or his name will not be put on the ballot. I think somebody better do some fact checking here, because this seems highly unlikely.

If this is true, the ballot could be cluttered up with names up people who do not want or consent to serve. Lawmakers are devious and unprincipled, but they are entirely stupid.

Les

8

E-File , power of attorney, etc.

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9

I can assure you that I know the law in New York on this point. I ran
Republican Party candidates for New York City Comptroller and New York
Public Advocate this past election, and although I requested and received
their verbal permission, they did not have to sign anything.

Under normal circumstances nobody would do this because to get on the
ballot it required 3750 signatures to run and nobody would go around
collecting all those signatures if there was doubt that he wanted to run or
would serve if elected.

By the way, I also nominated a close friend to be candidate for vacancy
committee. I went to his door to ask him, knocked on the door and left
messages on his telephone answering machine. When he did not answer I
figured he had probably gone on vacation to Israel where he often goes so I
put him on, knowing he would agree.

It was not until after the election that I found out that he was dead. No
problem however as he was not elected.

Sam Sloan

10

Ok, but e-filing or signing a power of attorney would be evidence of consent to serve and does not invalidate my comments. I never said the candidate had to show up in person to give consent; I only said they would have to file something to show consent to being nominated and/or intent to serve.

Sam has indicated that some someone can be registered to run without that someone's explicit consent. However, I still find this difficult to believe.

Les

11

OK. We all know the value of arguing fine legal points.

________________________________
From: leslie mangus <lesliemangus@...>
To: "lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com" <lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 8:12 AM
Subject: Re: P.S. - Re: [lpsf-discuss] Let's Get Edward Snowden Elected to United States Congress

Ok, but e-filing or signing a power of attorney would be evidence of consent to serve and does not invalidate my comments. I never said the candidate had to show up in person to give consent; I only said they would have to file something to show consent to being nominated and/or intent to serve.

Sam has indicated that some someone can be registered to run without that someone's explicit consent. However, I still find this difficult to believe.

Les

From: "javlin@..." <javlin@ymail.com>
To: lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 9:17 AM
Subject: RE: P.S. - Re: [lpsf-discuss] Let's Get Edward Snowden Elected to United States Congress

E-File , power of attorney, etc.

< -- The message is truncated. -- >

--- Sent with mail@metro, Real Life Real Time Mobile ---

From: lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 1/19/2014 6:52 am
To: lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Cc: "Eric" <Eric@...>, "Richard Winger" <richardwinger@...>, "Donald Silberger" <donaldsilberger@...>, "Donald Silberger" <DonSilberger@...>
Subject: Re: P.S. - Re: [lpsf-discuss] Let's Get Edward Snowden Elected to United States Congress

Personally I find the idea that someone can be run for Congress without their consent to be one of those 'it's too good to be true ideas".

I seems more likely to me that anyone can NOMINATE someone else to run, but the nominee has to file a consent to serve or some other paperwork in order to get his/her name on the ballot. This is how it works in the condo assoc I live in. I can nominate John Doe to run for Board member, but John has to file a consent to serve or his name will not be put on the ballot. I think somebody better do some fact checking here, because this seems highly unlikely.

If this is true, the ballot could be cluttered up with names up people who do not want or consent to serve. Lawmakers are devious and unprincipled, but they are entirely stupid.

Les

12

Only people in the state where the candidate is running can vote for the
candidate. Which doesn't stop people from all kinds of states from writing
in a candidate.
Debbie

Behalf Of Starchild

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13

I actually went down to the board of elections when I was thinking of
running Lewinsky for congress and discussed this issue with them.

What they told me was that if I collected enough signatures to run Lewinsky
for Congress, they would send her a letter informing her of the nomination.
She would be given a certain number of days, about a week, to respond. If
she did not respond, then she would be on the ballot.

For example if she was not at her home at 666 East Broadway in New York
City but was down in Washington DC attending to important affairs of state
such as by giving a blowjob to the president, she would be on the ballot.
This exact thing happened to Andrew Cuomo I think it was in 2004 when he
had been nominated for Governor by the Liberal Party but did not want to
run that time. His name could not be taken off the ballot as it was too
late. Naturally he finished last and for that reason the Liberal Party lost
its ballot line and subsequently went out of business.

This only applies to a candidate who is a registered member of a recognized
political party, such as Republican, Democrat, Green, Conservative, Working
Family or Independence. The Libertarian Party is not recognized by New York
State so this does not apply to us.

Sam Sloan