Dear colleagues:
I hope all is well with you. I have the honor of serving as the petition
drive coordinator for the Libertarian Party of Virginia to place the
Libertarian Party presidential ticket on the Virginia ballot in 2008. I
am writing to request your help with the petition drive, and to provide
information about the drive to you.
As this is a rather long message, I have organized it into several
sections:
I. Basic Information
II. How You Can Help
III. Important Dates
IV. Petition Drive Webpage
While the Basic Information section contains a simple description of the
petitioning process, in the near future I shall send another message
containing more detailed petitioning instructions and petitioning tips.
Please note that the material in each section is not necessarily
self-contained; thus, in order to understand a given section, you may
need to read the Basic Information section as well as other sections.
If you would like to volunteer to help, or wish to discuss ways in which
you can be of help, please contact me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or call me
at my home near Charlottesville (434 973-5958). In particular, if you
want to receive a copy of the petition form via e-mail, please let me
know and I shall send it to you in PDF format.
Thank you for your work for liberty. Best wishes for a wonderful 2008.
Take care,
Jim
James W. Lark, III
Advisor, The Liberty Coalition
University of Virginia
Chairman, Local Affiliate Parties Committee, Libertarian Party of Virginia
2008 Petition Drive coordinator, Libertarian Party of Virginia
P.S.: Please note that my effort concerns the statewide petition drive
to place the 2008 LP presidential ticket on the ballot. Candidates for
other offices (e.g., LP candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives
or U.S. Senate) are responsible for their own ballot qualification
efforts. However, where appropriate I shall be happy to render
assistance to petition drives for such candidates. Those candidates
should contact me for more information.
-----
I. Basic Information
The petitioning campaign will begin on Jan. 1, 2008, and will end at
noon on Aug. 22, 2008. The LPVa must submit the signatures of at least
10,000 Virginians who are registered to vote. For each of the eleven
congressional districts in Virginia, we must gather at least 400
signatures of people who are registered to vote in that district. I am
pleased to note that in 2004 we were able to qualify the LP presidential
ticket for the ballot by submitting 13,512 signatures. However, while I
hope we shall improve upon that performance this year, I believe we
should prepare to gather at least 16,000 signatures statewide and at
least 700 signatures in each congressional district in order to have a
reasonable margin for error. (From past experience we know that many
people who sign our petitions are not registered to vote, or are no
longer registered to vote at the address they provide.)
Petition signatures must be gathered on a petition form, the design of
which is provided by the SBE. This petition form will be available in a
downloadable format on the LPVa website. Incidentally, I am making
inquiries concerning prices for printing/copying the petition form in
large quantities.
Those who gather petition signatures for us (also known as petitioners
or petition circulators) must affirm before a notary public that they
have indeed witnessed the signatures on the petition sheets. In order to
be a valid witness of petition signatures, one must be either (a) a
registered Virginia voter, or (b) someone who is eligible to be a
registered Virginia voter. Please note that you may not witness your own
signature.
Those who sign our petition forms must be registered Virginia voters,
and they must provide the following information:
* They must sign their name on the form (ask them to sign their legal
name, as opposed to using a nickname)
* They must print their name on the form (ask them to print their legal
name as opposed to using a nickname)
* They must print their legal address on the form (signers must provide
a street or route address; P.O. Box and general delivery addresses are
not considered acceptable by the SBE)
* They must indicate the current date on the form (while it is probably
not necessary, you should ask them to include the year in addition to
the month and day)
The petition form also provides a place where signers can provide their
Social Security number (SSN) or the last four digits thereof. However,
signers are not required to provide this information. I make a point of
informing people that they are not required to provide their SSN. I also
mention that the SBE already has the SSN of registered voters, and that
providing the SSN makes it easier for the SBE to verify that signers are
registered voters.
In addition, I usually inform those who sign that the LPVa will not use
the information provided by signers for any purpose other than to
satisfy the requirements imposed upon the party by the Commonwealth of
Virginia. Frequently I note that signing our petition doesn’t imply
support for our candidates, and those who sign our petition may sign
petitions for other parties and candidates, and they may vote in the
primaries of other parties.
Signatures must be grouped by congressional district and then separated
by political jurisdiction (cities and/or counties) within the
congressional district. For example, Albemarle County and the City of
Charlottesville are different political jurisdictions within the Fifth
Congressional District. Thus, I must keep separate petitions for the
signatures of people living in Albemarle County and the signatures of
people living in the City of Charlottesville. Similarly, some people who
live in the City of Richmond are in the Third Congressional District
(CD), whereas others living in the City of Richmond are in the Seventh
CD. Thus, I must keep separate petitions for the signatures of people
living in City of Richmond, Third CD and the signatures of people living
in the City of Richmond, Seventh CD.
As I mentioned previously, I shall send more detailed petitioning
instructions in a subsequent message. I shall also send some petitioning
tips that you may find useful.
We are not allowed to submit any signatures to the SBE until (a) we have
at least 10,000 signatures in total on notarized petition forms, and (b)
we have at least 400 signatures of registered voters on notarized
petition forms in each of the eleven congressional districts. Once we
have satisfied criteria (a) and (b), we shall submit these signatures.
The SBE will count the number of valid signatures and apprise us of how
many more signatures (if any) we need to obtain.
Therefore, the sooner we gather our signatures and are able to conduct
our initial submission, the more likely we can avoid investing
substantially more effort than necessary to achieve the goal of placing
our presidential ticket on the 2008 Virginia ballot.
To ensure the proper submission of signatures and to obtain a proper
accounting from the SBE for the signatures we submit, I shall endeavor
in my capacity as petition drive coordinator to obtain all notarized
petition forms and submit them to the SBE. Thus, those who gather
signatures should provide the notarized petition forms to me, or to
people who will then provide them to me. Please do not send notarized
forms directly to the SBE.
II. How You Can Help
There are many ways in which you can assist the petition drive. They
include the following:
1) If you are a registered Virginia voter, you can sign our petition
form. As noted above, you cannot witness your own signature; thus, you
will need to find another person who is (or is eligible to be) a
registered Virginia voter and who is willing to witness your signature.
2) If you are (or are eligible to be) a registered Virginia voter, you
can gather petition signatures. If every LPVa member eligible to gather
signatures would obtain at least 20 valid signatures, we should have
well in excess of 10,000 valid signatures.
One useful thing to do is to make a list of all family members, friends,
and acquaintances who are likely to sign the petition form, and then ask
them to do so if they are registered to vote. Most people who prepare
this list will find that their list contains at least 10-15 names.
If possible, please pledge to gather a specified number of signatures
and contact me to let me know of your pledge. Information about your
pledge will help me in planning the distribution of resources for the
petition drive. I intend to gather at least 1,000 signatures; should I
fail to do so, I shall contribute $1.00 to the petition drive for each
signature I fall short of my goal. Several other LPVa members have also
made pledges of various numbers of signatures.
As noted below, a petition drive webpage will soon be available. Among
other things the webpage will provide information about upcoming
opportunities for petitioning. If you are planning to petition at a
given location at a given time, and if you want (or wouldn’t mind)
people assisting you, you are welcome to send the particulars of your
upcoming petitioning effort to me. If possible we shall include your
upcoming effort on the webpage, as well as any of your contact
information you want us to list.
3) You can recruit other people to circulate our petitions. For example,
if you have friends who own a business (such as a deli or a gun shop)
and are sympathetic to the Libertarian perspective, you should ask them
politely whether they would keep a petition form in view of their
customers and witness any signatures they obtain. (Note: In such cases,
the petition form must be kept in such a way that the form can be signed
only when the witness is able to observe the signing.)
Also, if you have children who are (or are eligible to be) registered
Virginia voters, ask them politely whether they are willing to gather
signatures of their friends and acquaintances who are registered voters.
In particular, if you have children in high school or college who are
(or are eligible to be) registered Virginia voters, please ask them to
gather signatures and/or arrange for you to gather signatures at the
high school or college.
4) You can identify good places at which we can petition, and then share
that information with us. One of the major difficulties we have
encountered in previous drives is finding good places at which we can
petition. We have the right to petition at Department of Motor Vehicle
(DMV) offices, Metro stops in northern Virginia, and many other public
locations. In some cases we may be able to petition at post offices,
although many local postmasters will not allow us to do so. At many of
these public locations it is not useful to petition during weekends.
Unfortunately, most private businesses are unwilling to allow people to
petition on their property. One notable exception is Giant grocery
stores. However, in general petitioning is allowed at Giant only on
weekends, and only after one has made arrangements with a given store to
petition on a given weekend. Typically one may petition at a given Giant
only one weekend per month.
Therefore, if you find a location or an event (such as a festival,
county fair, flea market, farmer’s market, rock concert, protest, etc.)
at which we can petition, please let us know and indicate under what
conditions we may petition there. Also, if you discover that a given
location (whether public or private) is particularly fruitful, please
let us know. We shall post such information on our petition drive webpage.
5) You can serve as a coordinator for a given region or congressional
district. Some of the major problems we encounter during a petition
drive are:
(a) Obtaining accurate, timely information about the number of
signatures that have been gathered and notarized (Such information is
important not only so that we gather enough signatures, but also to
avoid expending resources in gathering many more that we need.)
(b) Collecting the notarized petition forms from petitioners
(c) Contacting petitioners in a given area on short notice concerning
petitioning opportunities
A regional/district coordinator can be invaluable in overcoming these
problems. For those who are interested in serving in such a capacity,
please contact me so that I can provide a more complete description of
the responsibilities for coordinators.
6) You can donate money to the petition drive. It is an unfortunate fact
that while the LPVa has sufficiently many members to be able to mount a
successful all-volunteer petition drive, so far we have not done so.
Therefore, we should prepare for the possibility that we must employ the
services of paid petitioners.
If you are unable (or unwilling) to gather signatures, you can donate
money for the purpose of paying petitioners to gather signatures if
necessary.
7) You can make and distribute copies of the petition form to
petitioners. Also, you can collect notarized forms from petitioners and
provide them to the petition drive coordinator. The petition form is
double-sided on white legal-sized paper. Thus, printing/copying expenses
for petition forms are nontrivial. Making copies of the form and
distributing the copies to petitioners is a very helpful activity. (As I
mentioned above, I am making inquiries concerning prices for
printing/copying of petition forms in large volume.) Similarly,
collecting notarized forms from petitioners and providing them to the
petition drive coordinator is very helpful.
8) If you are a notary, you can notarize petitions for us. Since
petitioners must affirm before a notary that (a) they are (or are
eligible to be) registered Virginia voters and (b) they witnessed the
signatures on the forms to be notarized, we want to make it as easy and
inexpensive as possible to have the forms notarized.
To reiterate, you can help the petition drive in many ways:
* You can sign a petition form (assuming you are a registered
Virginia voter)
* You can gather signatures (assuming you are, or are eligible to
be, a registered Virginia voter)
* You can ask other people to gather signatures for us
* You can identify good locations and events at which we can gather
signatures
* You can donate money to the petition drive
* You can serve as a coordinator for a region or congressional district
* You can make and distribute copies of the petition form; you can
collect notarized forms
* You can notarize petitions for us
NOTE: We are considering in what manner to reward people who contribute
substantially to the petition drive. We may provide awards such as
special dinners, free admission to the 208 LPVa convention, etc., for
distinguished service. Information about rewards will be provided as
soon as it is available.
III. Important Dates
Please keep the following dates in mind:
Jan. 1 (Tuesday): The petition drive begins officially at midnight on
Jan. 1, 2008. I anticipate that in the very near future, the LPVa will
send a mailing to members about the petition drive. The mailing, which
may be included with the next issue of Virginia Liberty, will contain a
petition form and basic information about the petition drive.
Feb. 12 (Tuesday): Democratic and Republican primaries will be held in
Virginia. We want to have as many petitioners as possible at polling
places during these primaries. People who are able to vote in these
primaries are registered to vote, and we know in what congressional
district and political jurisdiction they are registered to vote. Thus,
all (or nearly all) of the signatures gathered at the polling stations
that day will be valid signatures.
Allow me to emphasize: If every LPVa member eligible to gather
signatures will invest two-three hours on Feb. 12 at polling stations
during one of the usual “peak times” (6:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m.
– 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.), we should be able to obtain enough
signatures that day to finish the petition drive.
March 29 (Saturday): The 2008 Libertarian Party of Virginia convention
will take place in Richmond. We hope that attendees will bring notarized
petition forms to the convention for collection. We anticipate that
several notaries will be available at the convention so that attendees
can have their petition forms notarized at the convention if necessary.
April 15 (Tuesday): We hope that many Libertarians will participate in
Tax Day rallies on this day. Those who do may be able to gather
signatures during the rallies.
May 6 (Tuesday): Many municipalities will hold elections on this day.
For the same reasons as those mentioned concerning the primaries on Feb.
12, we want as many petitioners as possible at polling stations in these
municipalities.
July 4 (Friday): We hope many Libertarians will participate in
Independence Day celebrations. If it is still necessary to petition by
this date, we hope that Libertarians will gather petition signatures at
those celebrations.
August 18 (Monday): Since we must submit our petition signatures by noon
on August 22, those who have gathered signatures for us should plan to
provide their notarized petition forms to me by this date.
August 22 (Friday): All signatures, as well as some paperwork, must be
submitted to the State Board of Elections by noon.
As indicated below, we intend to post a list of important dates on the
petition drive webpage, and to update that list frequently.
IV. Petition Drive Webpage
The petition drive webpage will soon be available; a link to it will
appear on the LPVa website (www.lpva.com). We intend to include many
items on the webpage, including the following:
* The petition form (downloadable)
* Link to the relevant sections of the Code of Virginia
* Link to the SBE website
* Info about congressional district boundaries
* Info concerning voting, voter registration, etc.
* Contact information for petition drive coordinators
* List of important dates and upcoming opportunities
* List of good petitioning locations and events (e.g., DMV offices,
fairs, festivals)
* Info about submitting number of signatures gathered
* Info about submitting petitions to petition drive coordinator
* List of notaries and their contact information
* List of petition drive heroes
* Status reports concerning numbers of signatures gathered, notarized,
and in the hands of the petition drive coordinator
* Petitioning instructions and tips
We anticipate receiving a letter from the DMV recognizing our right to
petition outside DMV offices. When we receive the letter, we shall
include a downloadable copy of that letter on the petition drive
webpage. Those who wish to petition at DMV offices should print a copy
of this letter and show it to the appropriate DMV staff at those offices.
We shall endeavor to update the webpage on a daily basis; at the very
least, the webpage should be updated weekly. I hope you will provide
information to me concerning upcoming events at which you plan to
petition, upcoming events that you believe will provide good
opportunities for petitioning, places where we can petition, and other
helpful items.
Please join me in thanking Chuck Eby for his tremendous help in
preparing the petition drive webpage.
#############################################################
Have an announcement you'd like to post? SCC members & many
committee heads are all authorized to post; or you may send
your announcements to the List Master:
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
##################################################
Unsubscribe: Send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
no subject and "Unsubscribe Announce" as the text.
#############################################################
Libertarian Party of Virginia
http://www.LPVA.com
Phone: 703-715-6230
