Times covers Ohio ballot access victory
July 20th, 2008 by Jason PyeThe New York Times has picked up on our ballot access victory in Ohio:
Ohio must include the Libertarian Party’s nominees on its ballot in November, a court has ruled, complicating Senator John McCain’s effort to win conservative votes in a hotly contested state rich in electoral votes.
The Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr, formerly a Republican congressman from Georgia, will lead his party’s ticket, which includes the vice-presidential candidate, Wayne Allyn Root, and candidates for governor and several Congressional seats.
“Ballot restrictions are all designed to prevent competition for the Democrats and Republicans,” said Russell Verney, Mr. Barr’s campaign manager, who said inclusion on the ballot with a party banner should help attract more votes than if Mr. Barr were on the ballot as an independent candidate.
The court order, issued Thursday, directs the Ohio secretary of state, Jennifer L. Brunner, to disregard her office’s current guidelines for ballot inclusion, which require eligible parties to gather valid signatures equal to one-half of 1 percent of the total vote in 2006 or to have garnered at least 5 percent of the last election’s votes. The Libertarians submitted 6,545 signatures in March, far below the approximately 20,000 needed. Ms. Brunner’s office has not decided whether to appeal the ruling.
We are working towards getting Bob and Wayne on the ballot in Oklahoma and petitioning efforts continue in West Virginia, however, we need your help to keep up the momentum.
July 20th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I hope they don’t appeal. Republicans have never appealed before, let’s hope they don’t start now.
Everyone, please send emails to everyone who has NOT contributed to contribute to keep HOPE alive in West Virginia. It would be a shame to cancel the drive now to lack of funds. If someone wes you a favor it’s time to cash in on it. To Democrats you know, play on their fears and tell them it’s in their best interest to contribute to Barr if only $100 to take away votes from McCain and balance out the Nader ticket.
Use every argument possible to raise funds. Many people will donate for fairnes and ballot access, they don’t have to vote for Barr.
July 20th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I just did some petitioning in Virginia yesterday, we are in good shape here and will almost certainly be on the ballot. As for WV, I hope that we have some volunteers who are willing to put in a lot of hours. We really need it. If Barr isn’t on all 50 states it takes away from the leigitimacy of the campaign and will likely hurt us in terms of media attention.
As for OK, we just have to hope for good luck.
July 20th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Please add this NYT article to Digg 4 Barr here at the Website so we can all vote on it.
July 20th, 2008 at 10:52 am
The Digg!
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Court_Orders_Ohio_to_Ease_Ballot_Access
July 20th, 2008 at 11:27 am
The campaign has till August 1st in WV - has anyone contacted the Ron Paul Meetup.com group members in WV? If boots on the ground are needed there to collect signatures - this would be a great resource to get in touch with. While not all RP supporters are Bob Barr supporters, all of them are interested in liberty - remind them the two party system needs to be broken and that this is a way they can help accomplish that goal.
July 20th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Thanks for the link TJ!
Everybody here needs to digg every Bob Barr article. This one only had 20 diggs after I did mine. With all the supporters we have we should be able to push Bob’s name and information way up!
This is an easy way to help spread the word!
July 20th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Dear friend,
I urgently need your help.
I’m in Charleston, West Virginia attempting to get Bob Barr on the ballot. When I arrived early Wednesday morning, I didn’t think it would be possible, but I had to give it a shot.
We’re headed toward 48 state ballot access. Only West Virginia and Oklahoma are problems. However, there is hope in Oklahoma as we have just filed a lawsuit to get Bob Barr and Wayne Root on the ballot there.
If we win that case, only West Virginia will stand in our way of 50 state ballot access - an apex of achievement for a third-party candidate and something the media cannot ignore.
But here’s my problem.
There is no active Libertarian Party in West Virginia and a very limited pool of volunteers.
I have had to bring in out-of-state petitioners from across the nation to get this drive done.
So far I have 13 petitioners on the ground and another nine on their way.
I didn’t think we would have the manpower to get the drive done, but now I think it’s a possibility. I have enough petitioners in the state and on their way to collect enough signatures by our August 1st deadline.
But I won’t have the money to finish the drive if I don’t raise $43,000 by close of business on Monday.
Russ Verney, our campaign manager, wrote to me this morning and instructed me to shut down the drive if I cannot raise the funds by COB Monday.
So far this month, we’re raised less than $100,000. We’re even off pace from our June fundraising totals.
The campaign cannot afford this ballot drive as I write this. We would have to choose between basic campaign operations or the possibility of 50 state ballot access.
Russ has to make a tough call on this drive but he did give me 96 hours to raise the funds to continue the effort.
I ask that you keep this drive alive by helping me raise $43,000 by close of business on Monday.
Please make an emergency donation to fund the West Virginia ballot access drive right now. Please give generously by clicking here.
My friend, I’ve only been in this state for a few days and we need to be on the ballot here.
When I arrived in West Virginia it was 2:30 in the morning. I pulled into a hotel parking lot and a restaurant owner and one of her patrons were standing outside smoking a cigarette.
They didn’t look too happy.
As it turns out, just a few weeks earlier the county had banned smoking in all “enclosed workplaces” including bars and restaurants.
I’m not a smoker, but it’s the property owner’s decision to allow or disallow smoking on their premises - it is not a county bureaucrats’ decision.
When I explained libertarian philosophy to them and told them about our candidate Bob Barr, their eyes lit up.
They did not know that there is an alternative to the two-party system. They didn’t know that there is a party that respects an individual’s rights and personal decisions.
Since then, I’ve talked to many more folks in this state and the same holds true. We need to give West Virginians a better choice and the only way to do that is to get Bob Barr on the ballot.
Please donate today and help me keep this drive alive. I have two weeks left to pull it off and I sincerely need your support.
A gift of $50, $100, $250 or more would be a significant help. If you can’t give $50, give $5 or $10. Every dollar gets us one step closer to getting a pro-liberty candidate on the ballot in what could be our final ballot access hurdle.
Thank you for all that you do.
In Liberty,
Shane Cory
Deputy Campaign Manager
Bob Barr 2008
July 20th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Great article, there are moments that remind you of why you work so hard for this kind of change. These moments are when the Consitution is followed. Glad to see this ballot access madness receeding. There is a lot to undo.
~Sauce