Sent to [email protected]. Posted to IPR by Paulie.
In a press conference this morning from the Illinois State Capital, The Free and Equal Elections Foundation announced an ambitious campaign to help place an Independent and/orThird Party candidate on the ballot in EVERY SINGLE Congressional District for the 2010 mid term elections.
“While engaging in lobbying and litigation for improved ballot access laws as this year goes forward, Free & Equal will be fundraising to issue grants to prospective 2010 candidates to pay for the petitioning necessary to achieve a ballot line,” said Founder and Chairman of the Board Christina Tobin. “We must make sure that people all across America are able to have their voices heard, and that they are able to cast their vote for a candidate of principle, not a just candidate of the two party duopoly.”
Free & Equal has also re-launched their website at http://www.freeandequal.org, and begun a capital drive to fund their efforts.
“The goal of placing an Independent and/or Third Party candidate on the ballot in every single one of the 435 congressional districts is quite a daunting task, and we have no illusions that it will take extraordinary effort and extraordinary fundraising to make this a reality,” said Executive Director Christopher Thrasher.
Due to 501c4 constraints, Free & Equal will pay for the petitioning to place candidates on the ballot directly, in lieu of donating to a candidate. Free & Equal is committed to ensuring that ALL candidates have a reasonable chance of placing their names on the ballot, including Democrats and Republicans. Free & Equal will not be endorsing candidates, nor will any money be directed to the candidates themselves.
Recently, Free & Equal announced that Richard Winger, the leading advocate for reforming restrictive ballot access laws across the nation, has joined the Board of Directors. Winger is the editor and publisher of Ballot Access News, a newsletter covering Independent and Third Parties, as well as developments in election law reform. Ballot Access News is published monthly and is available online at http://www.ballot-access.org/.
“We are thrilled to have Richard Winger join the board of directors of Free and Equal,” Tobin said. “Richard brings with him a wealth of knowledge and an unmatched determination to reform ballot access laws. No one has worked harder to ensure that the voters have a real choice in the ballot box over the last forty years.”
Free & Equal has identified several potential lawsuits against restrictive ballot access laws, and is seeking sponsors for bills to ease signature requirements in many states.
Free & Equal is also at this time reaching out to activists across the ideological spectrum to complete the Board of Directors of the foundation.
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The Free and Equal Elections Foundation is a non partisan, non profit 501c(4) organization dedicated to eliminating restrictive ballot access laws that target Independent and Third-Party Candidates.
Free & Equal will challenge these laws, through lobbying of state legislators, court challenges, and initiatives, in addition to the campaign announced today to place an Independent and/or Third Party candidate on the ballot in each of the 435 congressional districts for the 2010 mid-term elections.
Freedom Ballot Access is already doing this. Go to http://www.FreedomBallotAccess.org . I urge everyone to go to their contribution link ( https://secure.donortownsquare.com/SSL/donate.aspx?sgst=0&amt=0&ai=629&qs=J5TMH ) and make a donation.
Freedom Ballot Access is already doing this. Here’s the website.
http://www.freedomballotaccess.org/
Please go to the donation page for Freedom Ballot Access and make a contribution to get ballot access started for 2010 and 2012.
https://secure.donortownsquare.com/SSL/donate.aspx?sgst=0&amt=0&ai=629&qs=J5TMH
If you would prefer to make a donation directly to a state affiliate of the Libertarian Party, the Libertarian Party affiliates in New Mexico and Alabama would like to get ballot access petitioning going as soon as possible.
Here is a link for the Libertarian Party of New Mexico.
http://lpnm.us/
Here is their contact page.
http://lpnm.us/contacts.htm
As you can see here, it looks as though their on-line contribution link is down. If you would like to make a credit card donation send an e-mail to their treasurer.
http://lpnm.us/contribute.htm
If you would prefer to send a check or money order, mail it to the following address:
Libertarian Party of New Mexico
918 Ivory Rd. SE
Rio Rancho, NM 87124
Here is the link for the Libertarian Party of Alabama.
http://www.al.lp.org/
Here is their link to make a contribution. If you contribute by credit card be sure and type “Ballot Access” in the box for what the purpose of your donation is.
http://www.al.lp.org/pages/contribute
You can also send a check or money order to the following address:
Libertarian Party of Alabama
2330 Highland Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35205
It is vitally important that we start ballot access for 2010 and 2012 as soon as possible. If you want to see more Libertarian Party candidates on the ballot do not delay, make a contribution today!
This is a great idea. Offering a third choice puts more pressure on the two major parties.
In the 2008 special election in my district, the Republican felt extremely threatened by the Libertarian, to the extent of threatening him before the election and then blaming him for his loss afterward.
In the 2008 general election, we did not have a third option, and both candidates in the race supported the $700 billion bailout. I could not bring myself to vote for either one because of that and other issues, so I had no choice and had to refrain from voting in that race.
A third party or independent candidate with good funding and strategy could make an impact in races like that, and I think Free & Equal will offer more opportunities for candidates to do that.
In my state, only the DP, RP, and LP have ballot access. F&E could offer Greens and other progressives opportunities to run in liberal areas of the state like my district, making those races more competitive.
I don’t think the idea is to win in any particular race, but to give the voters a choice.
It’s silly for most opposition candidates to think they can win at that level. When I ran last year, it was to pave the way for a better candidate down the road.
I think I did a pretty credible job of that. I got entirely positive print media coverage. But few people read the papers anymore.
Next year, hopefully another candidate will build on what has started. A few people now know where the Libertarian candidate stands on the issues.
PEACE
My thoughts exactly, Chris. I like what they’re doing with ballot access a lot, but I’m not sure that having more candidates in pretty much un-winnable races will make a difference.
Here in North Carolina, the Libertarian Party is the only ballot-qualified alternative party (I don’t know the status of the Green petition effort), and our House candidates in 2008 got the lowest percentage of all our candidates. I can’t think of a better option, but this seems to be the wrong target race.