Sites of the 2016 national presidential nominating conventions. Blue, red, green, and yellow indicate the conventions for the Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian parties, respectively.
May 27 – A debate between the Libertarian candidates seeking the vice presidential nomination was held. On the same day, the candidates for chairperson of the LNC debated.
May 29 – The vote and nomination of the Libertarian presidential and vice-presidential candidates was held and televised by C-SPAN. Multiple ballots extended this.
In addition to the announcement of the Party's presidential ticket, a chairperson for the LNC was elected at the convention. Incumbent chairman of the Libertarian National Committee, Nicholas Sarwark was re-elected to the position.
Presidential delegate count
No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote. Due to finishing last of the six nominated candidates, McCormick was excluded from the second ballot.
State by state delegate count
First place by delegate votes.
No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote. Due to receiving less than 5% of the votes, McCormick was excluded from the second ballot.
Vice-presidential delegate count
Prior to vice presidential balloting, Marc Allan Feldman endorsed Gary Johnson's running mate Bill Weld, and Austin Petersen endorsed Alicia Dearn. Judd Weiss, whom John McAfee had selected as his running mate, withdrew his name from consideration and endorsed William Coley, who had been Darryl Perry's running mate. Consequently, McAfee endorsed Derrick Grayson, who received a write-in vote in each round of the presidential contest but had not campaigned for either the presidency or vice presidency prior to the convention.
No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote. Due to finishing last of the five nominated candidates, Dearn was excluded from the second ballot. Dearn then endorsed Weld. Additionally, both Coley and Grayson withdrew their names and endorsed Sharpe. However, Grayson withdrew his candidacy after the second ballots had been handed out, and therefore his name remained on the ballot as a valid candidate.
On May 29, candidate for chairman of the LNC James Weeks took stage and stripped down to a thong, saying "I thought we could use a little bit of fun." He danced on the stage before announcing the suspension of his bid for chairperson. He was booed loudly by the delegates and removed from the convention.[8] The incident was streamed live on C-SPAN. This took place during the tabulation of votes on the second ballot for vice president, and many delegates attempted to make a motion to expel Weeks from the party. This was cut short when chairman Nicholas Sarwark moved to set the matter aside and announce the results of the vice presidential nomination. Weeks was later expelled from the Libertarian Party of Michigan, which disavowed all support for his candidacy for county Sheriff.[9]
After losing the nomination to Gary Johnson, Austin Petersen endorsed the nominee and gave him a plastic replica of a type of pistol owned by George Washington. Several delegates attending the convention later reported seeing Gary Johnson, the party's nominee, tossing the gift in the garbage. It was returned to Petersen by a family that attended the convention.[10] A spokesman for the campaign apologized on behalf of Gov. Johnson, and explained the frustration arose from Petersen handing Johnson the replica before immediately launching into an attack on Johnson's endorsement of Weld for vice president. Petersen expressed a desire to move past the incident, encouraged his supporters to do the same, and confirmed that his endorsement of Johnson for the general election remained unchanged.[11]
^"LP 2016 National Convention". Libertarian Party. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
^Winger, Richard (July 11, 2014). "Libertarian Party Moves Into National Party Headquarters That it Owns". Ballot Access News. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
^"Libertarian National Committee Minutes July 15–16, 2012" (PDF). Libertarian National Committee. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
^Jenni Woods. "Libertarian Party". Libertarian.nationbuilder.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
^"Libertarian Party Holds Presidential Debate | Video". C-SPAN.org. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
^ a b c d e fLibertarian Party National Convention (Live Video). Orlando, Florida: C-SPAN. May 29, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
^Raymond Agnew. "Speakers – Libertarian Party". Libertarian.nationbuilder.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
^Richardson, Valerie. "Libertarian Party chair candidate strips on stage at national convention". The Washington Times. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
^Peal, Wayne (2016-06-13). "Libertarian stripper banned from party". Freep.com. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
^"Gary Johnson Shoots Himself in the Foot: Throws Out Austin Petersen's Gun". Liberty Hangout. 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
^"Gary Johnson tossed rival Austin Petersen's gift of George Washington's replica pistol in trash". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
