For those that have been following the LP’s ballot access journey for 2008, the goal has been 48 states–standard for the Party since becoming the third largest political party in the United States. The LP’s success with ballot access is partially why it can legitimately claim to hold this status.
Despite confidently striding towards the 48-state goal, LP presidential candidate Bob Barr and his campaign has decided to attempt a shot at 50-state ballot access for 2008.
This is where we need your help.
The ballot access drive in West Virginia has gotten off to an OKAY start, but not a great one, according to the campaign’s Midwest Coordinator Mike Ferguson.
The campaign needs to turn in 15,000 valid signatures to qualify for ballot access in West Virginia, which means they have to collect 19,000 to ensure they meet that threshold. On top of that, this must be done by August 1.
So far, activists have collected more than 1,000 signatures, but more help is needed.
"We have had some volunteers step forward already, but we need more people to collect signatures," says Ferguson in a recent email to volunteers and activists. "We simply do not have enough petitioners right now to make the deadline." However, Ferguson still believes it can be accomplished. "Make no mistake about it," Ferguson stated, "if enough people volunteer to gather signatures in the next week, we will achieve ballot access in West Virginia!"
Ferguson works out the numbers to be 25 petitioners collecting 40 signatures a day.
While seemingly difficult, this task can be done if volunteers step forward.
Email Mike at mike@bobbarr2008.com to volunteer. You do not need to be a resident of West Virginia to gather signatures, and Mike can send you the forms (credentials / petition) you need to get to work.
All you need to do is get a credentials form filled out in each county you circulate petitions. That is free and generally only takes a few minutes once you get to the County Clerk’s office in each county.
Remember, you need to be credentialed in each county that you collect signatures from. Once that’s done, you can get signatures from any voter in that county.
We’ll turn them in to the Secretary of State’s office, which has agreed to get them counted and checked for validity right away so we will be able to track our progress.
For more information, please call Mike ANY TIME at (816) 817-1817, or email him at mike@bobbarr2008.com.
Please help the LP and the Barr campaign in W.V.!
