LPNY Home Libertarian Party of NY -- 2008 Petitions

If you can't help collect signatures, please help us financially!

The Board of Elections of New York requires us to collect 15,000 signatures of registered voters in New York in order for our candidates to be on the statewide ballot. For local races, they require a similar proportion--5% of the number of voters in the prior gubernatorial election for the district you're running in. Of course, we need to collect nearly twice that many, in order to be 'challenge-proof.'

When to petition
We follow the dates and requirements for NY's Independent Bodies. For 2008, we start petitioning July 8 and we can start handing them in on August 12. The NYC petitions, in particular, need time to organize the giant volumes of petition sheets for submission to the Board of Elections before the absolute final date of August 19. There's no starting early--your petitions CANNOT have any signatures dated outside of the petitioning period.

All petitions must be sent prior to August 19th to Eric Sundwall, PO Box 503, Niverville, NY 12130, with the witness section filled out and signed.

Call 516-767-4688 (516-SOS-GOVT) now to get involved, or write to chair Eric Sundwall at ericsundwall -at- hotmail.com.

Statewide petitions

for your folder: Statewide petition -- PDF format
for your folder: Statewide petition -- Word format
for your folder: Signature Gathering Instructions

for your folder: Look for the folder icon below for other items to print out and take with you while petitioning

Please join our petitioning list to talk to other libertarians about helping out. Or, just download the petitions and get started, if you already know what to do.

The Statewide candidates are nominated at the annual state convention. Petition forms for lower-level candidates to combine with the statewide candidates will be available whenever that is possible. We hope to take advantage of cross-county petitioning wherever we can! (Talk to Jim Harris about that.)

The Libertarian Party of NY's 1998 gubernatorial candidate, Chris Garvey, offers the following advice: "If you can get the board or pen into his hands, chances improve. When the crowd is responsive, you can get one per minute. Two clipboards -- no waiting, but watch both signers. You are after all, a witness.

"Don't let anyone 'sign for my boyfriend.' Such people are major party agents, looking to create an election fraud case against you, to invalidate all your signatures. Give her a blank sheet on which SHE can witness her boyfriend's signature and tell her to send it to the petitioning coordinator."

Finally, some tips from Dave Hoesley in Rochester, written for Steve Healey's 2000 campaign. He explains "the difference betwen 20 and 50 signatures per hour"--a must-read! (also in an MS Word version)

Get some friends to come out with you!

With two or three people, you can more easily cover the entrances to your local post office or DMV. Have fun with it! "Let's head out, collect signatures for two hours, and then have a beer. The one with the fewest signatures pays."


for your folder: Bring these with you while petitioning!

for your folder: LPNY Statewide petitions and instructions: see above
for your folder: Libertarian NY State Candidates (you've got to know who's running!)
for your folder: Voter Registration Forms If someone is not registered to vote, give them a new Voter form that includes an "other" line. Make sure you let them know they can enroll as a Libertarian! (right-click to download from the Board of Elections)
for your folder: Notice of your legal right to petition on public property. This is an interesting item, and deserves its own page on the site.

Also bring: pens, clipboards, the "World's Smallest Political Quiz," Libertarian Party cards, and a few of your friends!

Volunteer petitioners are needed to make a successful volunteer petitioning effort possible. An email list has been created to faciliate the petitioning effort:
lpny_petitioning@yahoogroups.com. Sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lpny_petitioning

Related Links:

About our candidates
Donate to the party

History:

About our 2003 win in court that established an "other" line for party enrollment where people can write in "Libertarian"
Bob Schulz's fight for more fair ballot access November 1994 LP Press Release
Ballot access in New York State (from early 1994) by William Kone
The 1994 Petition Drive by Blay Tarnoff










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