DATE: Thu, 11 May 2000 23:44:17 From: announce@lp.org To: announce@lp.org (Libertarian Party announcements list)-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
BALLOT ACCESS EMERGENCY! 50-STATE BALLOT ACCESS IN JEOPARDY!
FROM LIBERTARIAN PARTY NATIONAL DIRECTOR STEVE DASBACHDear Libertarian Party Supporter,
Today is May 11, 2000.
The ballot-access deadline in Oklahoma is June 1, 2000 -- just three short weeks from today.
Without your immediate help, we may not have enough signatures by the deadline. Without your immediate help, our Presidential candidate may not appear on the ballot in all 50 states. Without your immediate help, Pat Buchanan could be the only third party candidate on the ballot in all 50 states.
We can't let that happen!
Competition for petitioners is fierce -- and getting worse. In California, there are 50 initiative petitions being circulated by powerful special interest groups and wealthy corporations. They're spending huge amounts of money to hire mercenary petitioners away from drives like ours.
Pat Buchanan is financing his petition drives with millions of your tax-dollars -- bidding up prices even further.
Over the past few weeks, we've had to more than double what we are paying per signature to keep from losing petitioners to other drives and to attract new petitioners.
We signed a contract with one firm early in the drive to collect 40,000 signatures. To date, they've collected less than 5,000.
A second firm committed to collect 20,000 signatures but has submitted only half that amount.
We've been forced to hire and train our own petitioners --- lots of them --- to make up the shortfall..
By June 1st, we need to submit 43,680 valid signatures to get our candidates on the ballot in Oklahoma. Based on an expected validity rate of 60%, that means we need to summit at least 72,800 signatures. As of yesterday, we had 55,500 signatures in hand.
However, our internal checks are showing lower than expected validity. That means we have to collect even more signatures, which means we have to hire even more petitioners. The bottom line? We will have to spend AT LEAST $20,000 PER WEEK for the next three weeks to successfully complete the Oklahoma ballot drive. Plus, we have to spend an additional $8,000 per week to maintain our momentum in Illinois.
And, it could get even worse. The other parties petitioning in Oklahoma have collected far fewer signatures than we have. Which means they are desperate to hire additional petitioners -- whatever the cost.
So far, we've been able to keep up. However, these escalating costs have completely drained our ballot access reserves. If we want to successfully complete this drive and get on the ballot in all 50 states, we need to raise at least $84,000 right now.
We don't have time to send out a fundraising letter about this. By the time we got the money in, it would be too late to do any good.
To stay on track for 50-state ballot access, we need a QUICK influx of cash --- NOW!
That's where you can help.
After you finish reading this letter, please:
1. Go to http://www.lp.org/ok/ballot-contrib.html to contribute by credit card. Contributing by credit card will get more petitioners in the field collecting signatures the soonest. You can also call me directly to contribute at 202-333-0008, ext. 228.
2. If you prefer to contribute by check, please WRITE A CHECK, and PUT IT IN TODAY'S OUTGOING MAIL. If you do that, we could have your check as early as noon Monday and be hiring petitioners after lunch. There is a contribution form attached to the bottom of this message
Can we count on your support to finish what we've started?
SPONSOR A PETITIONER
It costs $400 per day per petitioner to keep our best petitioners out collecting signatures. Would you sponsor one of our all-star petitioners for a day with a $400 contribution?
New petitioners typically collect about half as many signatures per day as a veteran. That means it costs $200 per day per petitioner to keep our fledgling petitioners out collecting signatures. Would you sponsor one of our new petitioners for a day with a $200 contribution?
Perhaps you can do more, and sponsor a petitioner for several days -- an entire week -- or for the rest of the drive. That would be a magnificent show of support.
Or, perhaps you can only sponsor an hour or two of petitioning. Anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated.
Remember, there are only three weeks left until the Oklahoma deadline.
We need your contribution NOW when it will do the most good.
Please -- help give us the fast infusion of cash we need to get Oklahoma done in time and save 50-state ballot access.
A SPECIAL REQUEST
In addition to writing your check, I'd like to ask you to do two things to help us make this work smoothly: 1) write "E-mail Response" on your check on the memo line, and 2) when addressing your envelope, be sure to include "E-mail Response" as the first line of the address (see below for complete address).
Then print out the form at the end of this message, fill it in, and enclose it with your check.
And please -- do it NOW.
There are only three weeks left.
Sincerely,
Steve Dasbach National Director
P.S. -- The situation in Oklahoma is extremely critical. Ron Crickenberger is flying there Monday morning to make sure that more petitioners get hired, get trained, and get out on the street collecting signatures. And he'll be out there collecting signatures along with them.
But he can't hire petitioners unless he knows he can pay them.
Our Presidential candidate appeared on every state ballot in 1992 and 1996. We simply can't afford to backslide. If 50-state ballot status is important to you, please contribute now.
P.P.S. -- Contribute by credit card at our web site and we'll get a jump start on hiring more petitioners. The URL is:
http://www.lp.org/ok/ballot-contrib.html
P.P.P.S. -- Can you come to Oklahoma and help petition, either as a volunteer or a paid petitioner? If so, please call Ron Crickenberger immediately at 202-333-0008 ext 227 or 202-276-2458. Or, you can email him at RonCrickenberger@hq.LP.org. We need all the help we can get at this crucial time to save 50-state ballot access. Thank you!
HERE'S THE CONTRIBUTION FORM: Please print out the form below on your computer printer, fill it in, and enclose it with your check.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
ENCLOSED IS MY CONTRIBUTION OF:
[ ] $2800 to sponsor one of our all-star petitioners for a 7-day week [ ] $1200 to sponsor one of our new petitioners for a 6-day week [ ] $400 to sponsor one of our best petitioners for a day [ ] $200 to sponsor one of or fledgling petitioners for a day [ ] $100 to pay for 2-4 hours of petitioning [ ] $50 to pay for 1-2 hours of petitioning [ ] Other $________
Please make your check payable to "Libertarian Party" or provide the following information for credit card payment:
[ ] Mastercard [ ] Visa [ ] American Express
Card number________________________ Expires____________
Signature______________________________________________
Name___________________________________________________
Address________________________________________________
City_________________________ State____ Zip____________
Phone__________________________________________________
E-Mail_________________________________________________
Occupation_____________________________________________
Employer_______________________________________________
NOTE: Federal law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, and occupation and name of employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year. The IRS requires that we advise you that political contributions are not tax deductible.
PLEASE ADDRESS YOUR ENVELOPE TO:
E-mail Response Libertarian Party 2600 Virginia Avenue NW/Suite 100 Washington, DC 20037
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2
iQCVAwUBORunmtCSe1KnQG7RAQGgBwQAtmniSb2i9pu0F6L+h9zH9cHYsb9IsFaM lG9ijrQ+98LatMjnJkvIRDMpvtr/ka1TEy+o8R/xjiJJ84gEl/4lBI0nN2V/odYc t48BxAIdQeq0ckHuOswm7sDsznZBeI5wpK5cqV/Lu/rG2Y0PL+T7nYo9AwS6YB+7 s3oc7Q1JvvQ= =MTvm -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/ 2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008 Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
For subscription changes, send a message to <announce-request@lp.org> with just the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
Or use the WWW form at: http://www.lp.org/lp-announce-form.html
--------- End Forwarded Message ---------
Get your FREE Email at http://mailcity.lycos.com Get your PERSONALIZED START PAGE at http://my.lycos.com
Make music with anyone, anywhere, through FREE Internet recording studio software. FREE software download! http://click.egroups.com/1/3734/5/_/38365/_/958167743/