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Calling all friends of democracy, of a right to a meaningful vote, of accountable representation, of free and equal elections!
December is the time to grab your state legislators and ask them to sponsor a ballot-access reform bill for the upcoming 2010 legislative session.
According to Ballot Access News, “More progress improving ballot access laws comes from persuading state legislators to ease these laws, than via lawsuits.”
But be aware that your legislator may have a fast-approaching deadline for introducing bills, the notice warns.
Read the post on Ballot Access News.
The Free & Equal Elections Foundation strongly supports this advice. Getting a bill sponsored in the state legislature can be less of a hassle and less expensive than taking the fight to the courts.
“Half the battle of getting a law changed via lobbying is just finding the sponsor,” Richard Winger, editor and publisher of Ballot Access News, told Free & Equal recently.
Of course, if paying a lobbyist becomes necessary to give the bill extra support as it makes its way through the process, then this approach can get expensive in a hurry.
That’s why it’s so important to find a legislator who’s willing to do the legwork, usually someone who’s truly sympathetic to the cause, or who likes the prospect of scoring some points with an otherwise disenchanted group of voters.
In my home state of Oklahoma — home to arguably the nation’s toughest ballot-access laws for minor parties and independent presidential candidates — we recently had some success with this approach. We found a state representative who was willing to sponsor and push hard for a bill to change the law, which requires signatures equal to 5 percent of the previous gubernatorial or presidential election turnout, or 73,000 signatures to run candidates in 2010 under the partyʼs name.
Still, because the state is so set in its ways, we were forced to hire a lobbyist to help. We got House Bill 1072 through both houses of the legislature before it stalled in a conference committee. The bill is still alive, however, for the committee to revisit in the upcoming session.
But whether or not a bill ultimately succeeds or fails isn’t the point. The point is we must keep up the good fight. We must continue to take the fight to the powers-that-be any way we can.
And Free & Equal can help. Our organization will be publishing and distributing a comprehensive, state-by-state, ballot-access guide at the end of 2009.
We encourage all to pick up a copy, as it can be an invaluable tool in the task of educating lawmakers and the public on this often very complex issue.
We find that lawmakers and voters alike are much more sympathetic to our cause if they know the facts.
Please call or e-mail Free & Equal to let us know of your plans or actions, especially if you need our help.
for democracy,
Micah Gamino
Media Director
Free & Equal Elections Foundation
ballotpedia Ballot Access News
Actually, Washington is where we have to grab our legislators in July. December is far too late. AND we must be aware of what items have already been stacked up for them to do, like the budget, etc. So, please don’t wait until December. Get to your legislators right after their session ends.