Help Get Rick Noriega on The Ballot!

Today I got an email from eleven members of the Texas SDEC, members who are supporting Rick Noriega for US Senator from Texas. They announced a petition drive to get Lt. Col Rick Noriega on the March Democratic Primary ballot.

Interestingly enough, most candidates for office at this level don’t waste their time and energy with petitions, they just pay a filing fee. The one for US Senator is $5000. This is chump change for opponent Mikal Watt$. I know Rick Noriega can come up with the cash, too.

So why a petition drive?

Let them explain it to you:

“Rick Noriega is building a grassroots campaign, and here's our chance to show the strength of the Noriega grassroots. Texas requires a candidate to obtain 5,000 signatures. We want to blow that number away, so we've set an ambitious goal: 25,000 signatures!”

I’ll say that’s ambitious. Long ago I learned that any petition to get something on a ballot needs to amass at least twice the number of signatures that are required simply to overcome the inevitable unqualified or unverifiable signature. The Noriega Campaign has a goal to collect 5 times the minimum required.

Here’s how they plan on doing it. They plan on raising an army of petition distributors. They want YOU to help out. It is, after all, a grassroots campaign with broad support.

How do you help out? Download a petition PDF file HERE. Print it out on legal sized paper so that individual lines on the petition are wide enough for the signer to sign, and for a reader to read the signature.

More information from the campaign on the petition process:

"Who can sign? Any registered voter in Texas may sign. By signing, you are making an oath not to vote in any other Party primary or convention. The signer doesn't have to have voted Democratic in the past (or even have ever voted before!). The only registered voters who should not sign are those planning on voting in the Republican primary or attending a third party's convention.

“How many signatures does it take? It takes 5,000 valid ones. To make sure we have enough and to show Rick's overwhelming support, we're going to set a goal of 25,000!”

“What's our deadline? Filing begins on December 4, 2007 and ends on January 3, 2008. We'll stop collecting sometime during that period. We've got three months to make a statement. One signature a day and you'll be approaching a hundred!”

“Do people need to know their voter registration number? It helps if they write it in, but we'll look them up. If your local voter registration list is online, you could help by looking them up before you mail them in.”

“Do I hold them or send them in as I go? Please send each page in as you complete a page. The address is on the bottom of each one.”

“How will I know how we're doing? The campaign will periodically send an email to update you and we'll keep a tally on the website. There will be special recognition to those who obtain more than 100 signatures and a really special treat for whomever collects the most!”

“Most campaigns wouldn't even try this, but our campaign is different. Rick's support is deep and wide in Texas, and here's our chance to prove it. Not only are you helping to get Rick on the ballot, you'll also be spreading his message across Texas. That's something a $5,000 check to the Texas Elections Division can't buy.”

Here’s your chance to make a difference and it won’t cost you a thing. Take the petition around and get your friends and family members to sign it. Take it to work or to your place of worship. Take it to Democratic meetings that you attend or hear about. Take it to peace rallies.

Heck, even take it to Mikal Watt$’ roast beef lunches and hospitality suites. I hear attendees are long on appetites, just not long on them for Watt$.

Let’s just get this one done, OK?