Libertarian Candidate: 'I Screwed Up (and So Did the Division of Elections)'

Libertarian gubernatorial candidate John Wayne Smith told Sunshine State News he's off the November ballot because the state Division of Elections "lost my paperwork.

"I submitted three pieces of paper -- a lieutenant governor statement (naming Libertarian Party Chairman J.J. McCurry), a notarized financial disclosure plus my party loyalty oath -- and now (state officials) say they only have the latter two," Smith said.

Smith said he hand-delivered the documents to Tallahassee, as he did when he ran as a No Party Affiliation gubernatorial candidate in 2006.

"There's some hanky-panky going on here," he said, vowing to pursue legal remedies beginning Tuesday.

Smith said his "fatal mistake" was leaving the Division of Elections office without a receipt on June 17, when he filed.

"Them people are not honest in the least," the Ocala resident said. "It's my own stupidity for trusting government. I've been preaching (against) that for 40 years."

Division of Elections spokeswoman Jennifer Davis was not immediately available for comment over the Labor Day weekend.

Smith received 15,987 votes in his NPA bid in 2006.

This year, he and the Libertarians appear to be out their $8,600 filing fee, with nothing to show for it.