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Free State Project wants to transform local state government New Hampshire, Wyoming lead the election to be democracy laboratory BY KATE MCCANN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CONCORD, N.H. - Some 5,000 liberty-minded Americans have been holding an election, but for a state rather than a candidate, and the one they choose will be a laboratory for what they call the biggest experiment in democracy since the Revolutionary War. Balloting concludes today, and the winning state is to be an nounced Oct. 1. Then members of the Free State Project hope to quadruple their numbers within two years, move there, and start transforming it into a national model for small government, few laws and individual liberty. “Projects of this kind have been done before on much larger scales,” says project founder Jason Sorens, 26. He cites the Pilgrims, the Mormons and the migration of liberal, back-to-the-soil types to Vermont 30 years ago. With a Web site — http://www.freestateproject.org — as a forum, members last year narrowed their choices to 10 states with small populations, libertari an tendencies and other charac teristics. New Hampshire and Wyoming are considered favorites, ahead of Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Vermont, and North and South Dakota. Supporters of New Hampshire like its relatively low dependence on federal money, lack of general sales or income taxes, and its “Live Free or Die” motto. The New Hampshire constitution also guar antees the right to revolt and does not prohibit secession. Project members say secession is not their goal, but that the provision could be a useful bargaining chip. Wyoming scores for its tiny pop ulation, low property taxes, lack of statewide land use planning laws, and lack of “politically correct” laws such as those against hate crimes. Strikes against New Hampshire include its lack of support for Libertarian presidential candi dates and its relatively expensive political campaigns. Though the premise of the pro ject is that 20,000 committed indi viduals could be a genuine force in a small state, members bristle at the suggestion they want to “take over” a state. “New Hampshire gets 20,000 new residents annually. So 20,000 people is not like locusts,” said Vice President Elizabeth McKinstry, who lives in Michigan. “And in no state that's on our list will 20,000 people be enough to come in to 'take over.”' SURFYOURSELF Read about the Free State Project at: www.freestateproject.org Henry McElroy, a retired col lege professor and Republican state representative from Nashua, says the biggest change in the cho sen state would be getting people involved in government. “You should be reading, you should be studying, you should be doing a better job of understand ing your place in society,” he said. Some free-staters have ruffled feathers by questioning the need to subsidize public schools and op posing laws against “victimless behaviors” such as marijuana use for medical purposes, prostitution and gambling. That's partly why New Hampshire Democratic Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan con siders the project “sort of a very fringe group that can best be de scribed as anarchists.” One of 150 project members who already live in New Hampshire, James Maynard of Keene, has been recruiting in Massachusetts. “With the attitude of everyone in Massachusetts, that freedom is just to their north, that would be a great source,” said Maynard, 30. Project members are mostly men and in their 20s and 30s. Roughly 10 percent are retirees; others are small-business owners. Not all are Libertarian Party members, but their principles are similar. - David Dawson, chairman of the Wyoming Libertarian Party, is a staunch project supporter. Dawson, 60, has run unsuccess fully for governor and Congress twice, and several times for the state Legislature. “.When you,'re a Libertarian without 20,000 liberty-oriented peo ple in your state, it's not a race you figure on winning,” he said. “But you get 20,000 people moving in here and that could change in a big hurry.” But Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, “has never gotten the impression that many (Wyoming residents) would support legalizing drugs or using secession as some sort of bargain ing chip;” spokeswoman Lara Azar said. Libertarian candidates haven't dong well in New Hampshire. But University of New Hampshire po litical scientist Mark Wrighton says the Granite State might be fer tile ground for the project anyway. “The words 'Live Free or Die’ pretty much explain a lot of what goes on in New Hampshire,” Muslim Student Association 1st meeting Wed. 24th @ 7:30pm Russell House room 305 Everybody is invited Free Food Mediterranean Cuisine catered by Al-Amir Islam 101 Class Every Friday Where: Russell House rm. 205 When: 7:30pm Speaker: Imam Mohamad Alhomsi malhomsi@sprintpcs.com ■ IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT: President Fozail Alvi cavsio8@aol.com 788-8161 I Vice President Khalidah Ali lidi1028@aol.com Upcoming Events Essay contest ($150 1st prize) Free Islamic Classes Islamic Awareness Week ' Paintball tournament -I Picnic and much more!!! _ I What is M.S.A.?? I The Muslim Students Association H provides all USC students, both Muslim | and non-Muslim,to come together in a | supportive Muslim environment to I educate each other about Islam. 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