Obstacles For Independent Candidates

[irishbobcat]

Jay,

It is time all candidates  have the same petition signature requirements to run for office in Ohio. Now you know why we have no political races in November. Now you know why there is no forward movement in our economy and valley because our choices are hand-picked by our party bosses. No party candidate is allowed to challenge a party incumbent. Look at the 65th House State Rep Race with Representative Harwood in Trumbull County. She has 2 individuals file to run against her in the primary....and within a week the political bosses convinced the two candidates to drop out of the race to provide a "united" party. Again, no debate of the issues...
party bosses deciding who should run for office.

That is why I am running for state representative. I believe we should have a race, discussion, and debate where we want our district to go in the summer and fall. Bob Hagan should not be elected to the Ohio House on March 4, 2008. There are many issues we need to debate through November 4, 2008.

If you are a progressive liberal who believes our current system is unfair and would like to see a free election and choice of candidates in November elections, please help us gather signatures to face Bob Hagan in November.

I would like to start gathering signatures outside the public
libraries in the 60th District on Saturdays or any high traffic
areas on weekends in the district.

The libraries we could man are the following:

Main Library
South Side Library
West Side Library
Struthers Library
Campbell Library

We could also look to gather signatures outside the public buildings
that will be holding the WRTA tax issue meetings over the next few
weeks. I know they have meetings scheduled in Campbell, Lowellville,
Struthers, and downtown Youngstown.

If you can volunteer to man some of these sites over the next 6
weeks, please let me know.  If you give an hour or two at a location it would be greatly appreciated.

I will supply the petitions and the simple instructions.

Please call me at 330-755-0729 or e-mail me.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Dennis Spisak

Independent Green Party Candidate for the 60th district

e-mail me at spikespisak@aol.com

[jay]

This problem was discussed on the editorial page of the Sunday, January 20, 2008 newspaper.   I feel that all candidates should be required to gather the same number of signatures.

[irishbobcat]

Jay, this is mandated at the state level. So, Since the Republicans and Democrats are the major parties, they do everything in their power to bar independent candidates from running in November. Tim Kettler, the Green Party candiate for the State Senate Seat in the 20th district, has to raise 1,200 valid signatures, his Democratic and Republican opponents only again  needed 50 signatures.

And we can this a democracy?

Dennis Spisak
Green Party Candidate for State Representative-60th District

http://votespisak.tripod.com

[jay]

Is this the policy of the local board of elections or is this mandated at the state level?

[irishbobcat]

Jay, when I went to pick up my petitions for the 60th District State Representative Race I received the following information regarding signatures from the Mahoning County Board of Elections.

If America is supposed to be a democracy, why are the signature requirements not equal for all candidates? We do not have a democracy in Ohio, we have the 2 major parties who want to stay in control and makes it unfair for independent candidates to run for Ohio.

The major party candidates and political county bosses control who can run in Ohio and our area. Here are the valid signature requirements here in Mahoning County:

State Representative:  60th District   Democratic and Republican candidates need 50 valid signatures, I need 321 valid sigantures.

17th Congressional District: Democrat and Republican candidates need 50 signatures, independent candidates need 2,200.

Mahoning County Commissioner: Democrat and Republican candidates need 50 signatures, Independent candidates need 953.
The same goes for county coroner, treasurer, sheriff, engineer, and recorder.

The 2 major parties can just go to a party meeting and gather signatures from the their county chairman and neghborhood committee leaders. Independent candidates must walk neighborhoods, stand outside shopping centers, libraries, etc.... to gather enough signatures to run.

Is this fair? Is this a Democracy?

President Bush has spent 6 years trying to bring Democarcy to Iraq, which has cost over 3,900 American lives.

How can we bring democracy to Iraq when we do not have democracy in Ohio? It is time all candidates  have the same registration requirements to run for Ohio. Now you know why we have no political races in November. Now you know why there is no forward movement in our economy and valley because our choices are hand-picked by our party bosses. No party candidate would dare challenge a party incumbent.

That is why I am running for state representative. I believe we should have a race, discussion, and debate where we want our district to go in the summer and fall. Bob Hagan should not be elected to the Ohio House on March 4, 2008. There are many issues we need to debate through November 4, 2008.

If you are a progressive liberal who believes our current system is unfair and would like to see a free election and choice of candidates in Novmber elections, please help us gather signatures to face Bob Hagan in November.

If you own a business or know someone who does and would give us permission to set up petition tables outside or inside your business, please contact us. If you are hosting an event and you would give us the opportunity to collecting signatures, please contact us. If you would like to circulate petitions or if you would like to sign our petition, please contcat us and we will drive out to meet you to gather your signature.

If you believe we should have a contested race for state representative if the 60th district in November, please visit our campign site at
http:// votespisak.tripod.com or e-mail us at votespisak@lycos.com

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Dennis S. Spisak
Independent Green Party Candidate for State Rep- 60th Distict

[jay]

Is it true that a person who wants to run as an independent candidate has to gather significantly more signatures on his election petitions than a person from one of the established political parties?