Statement of Support — Libertarian Party of North Carolina

Libertarian Party of North Carolina
Suite 28141, 311 New Bern Avenue · Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
919-283-5295 · lpnc.org

July 13, 2026

North Carolina State Board of Elections
P.O. Box 27255
Raleigh, NC 27611-7255

Re: Ballot Access for Gunnar Wieboldt, Unaffiliated Candidate for N.C. House District 54

Dear Members of the Board:

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina writes in support of placing Gunnar Wieboldt on the 2026 general election ballot as an unaffiliated candidate for North Carolina House District 54. We do so not because Mr. Wieboldt is one of our own — he is not — but because the principle at stake belongs to every voter in this state: elections exist to give citizens a choice, and ballot access rules should open the door to participation, not bar it.

Mr. Wieboldt did what our law asks of independent candidates, and then some. He gathered more than twice the required number of petition signatures from voters in Chatham County — each collected in ink, face to face, from citizens who wanted the chance to consider his candidacy. Yet more than half of those signatures were rejected in verification, leaving him short of the threshold despite an overwhelming demonstration of public support. When a candidate can present double the required showing of support and still be excluded, the process is no longer measuring what it was designed to measure. Technical defects in a signature line should not be permitted to silence the clearly expressed intent of the voter who signed it.

Without Mr. Wieboldt on the ballot, the voters of District 54 will face yet another uncontested race, and an incumbent will claim a sixth term without ever having to defend his record. A democracy that recognizes the voices of all its citizens cannot be one in which thousands of voters petition for a choice and receive none. Broad ballot access is not a favor to candidates; it is a right of the electorate. Every North Carolinian — Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or unaffiliated — is better served when elections are contested and representation is earned.

We respectfully urge the Board to review the rejected signatures with a presumption in favor of the voter’s intent, to count every signature of a duly registered voter that can reasonably be validated, and to certify Mr. Wieboldt for the ballot. The Libertarian Party knows firsthand how steep North Carolina’s ballot access barriers are, and we will always stand with any candidate — of any affiliation — who clears them in good faith. The voters of Chatham County have asked for a choice. We ask the Board to let them have one.

Respectfully,

Ryan Brown
Chair, Libertarian Party of North Carolina