LPNY HomeLibertarian Party of NY -- Press Release -- Libertarian Party Starts Petitioning Drive Across New York State

Libertarian Party Starts Petitioning Drive Across New York State

BELLPORT, NY - 7/6/2004: The petitioning season begins two days after Independence Day this year, and the Libertarians are picking up pens and clipboards and printing out the petition forms from their website (http://ny.lp.org/petitions/) in preparation. "THIS is what Democracy looks like," says Libertarian Party of New York Secretary Bonnie Scott, recalling days in the hot sun from the Hudson Valley to the North Country in 2002, the last time petitioning for a statewide slate was required. Walking up to strangers and asking for their signature isn't her idea of fun, but collecting at least fifteen thousand signatures from registered NY voters is the only way her party's candidates--Michael Badnarik for President and Donald Silberger for U.S. Senate--can be on the ballot in New York State.

In order to have a "safe" petition, political groups like the Libertarian Party really need to collect at least 25,000 signatures from registered voters. "Sometimes people don't want to admit that they aren't registered voters, or they don't know whether they are, so we need to collect many more signatures than the base number" explains Steve Healey, the Libertarian Party of New York's petitioning coordinator for the greater Rochester area.

Since October 2003, New Yorkers have been able to enroll as Libertarians when they register to vote, thanks to a decision from Judge Gleeson in Green Party of NYS vs. NYS Board of Elections in the US Eastern District. (There is an appeal pending.) So, you may find Libertarians carrying around the new voter registration forms, the ones with an "other" line, and they'll be more than happy to help you fill it in "Libertarian" if you agree on their principles, which include "limited government, lower taxes, [and] opposition to endless wars, foreign and domestic," according to Silberger's website (http://www.silbergerforsenator.org/).

Other Libertarian candidates this year include Jeff Bennett, running for State Senate in NY's 38th district; Nic Leobold, running for New York State Assembly in NYC's 66th District; and Sam Sloan, running in the 10th Congressional District, in Queens. Those campaigns will need to collect signatures on their own to ensure a line on the ballot in their respective districts.

The Libertarian Party of New York will be awarding the first "Dottie-Lou Brokaw Volunteer Petitioning Award" late in August, after the end of this year's petitioning period. That award commemorates a New York Libertarian volunteer who collected thousands of signatures for Libertarian candidates in NY during her years of activism in Cortland and later, Ulster County.

All Libertarian petitions should be turned in to petition coordinator Jeff Russell by August 10 at 55 Via DaVinci, Clifton Park, NY 12065.

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