illinois needs your help - ballot access

[walt]

we do not have a full slate of delegates due to the large number of signatures and district by district candidates.

If you know people in illinois that can help - have them contact ilpetitions@gmail.com

[bbachtung]

Bump.

The 5th is over; help walt and our brothers and sisters in Illinois.

[RonPaulFever]

I was out tonight getting signatures for the 12th district delegates. :) We're going to get it done down here in SoIL!!

[bbachtung]

I was out tonight getting signatures for the 12th district delegates. :) We're going to get it done down here in SoIL!!

Thank you. That is dedication (you are a Zen master to be able to go out and get sigs while the counter was going crazy).

[RonPaulFever]

Thank you. That is dedication (you are a Zen master to be able to go out and get sigs while the counter was going crazy).

:D

Yeah, it killed me to be away from the ticker :)

[Wyurm]

I'm working on the 11th district, plan to go door to door tomorrow after work.

[Jaykzo]

I'm in the 16th, I plan on doing some door-to-door work this weekend

[Santana28]

8th district needs LOTS of help as far as i know. i signed up to be a delegate but thats about all i can commit to... we need signatures badly.

[walt]

bump

[Bradley in DC]

Keep at it. We JUST filled out slate in DC yesterday--I'm filing it today. We gave our volunteers "walking lists" of the registered Republicans in the precincts, and several of us called and went door-to-door which is how we did it.

PM me if you need more help. I did this for the two Forbes campaigns in Ohio too.

[Bradley in DC]

please copy thread to the IL section too. ;)

[Bruehound]

There will be events scheduled this weekend to get our people out into the 1th, 8th & 6th.

Details are being finalized so stay tuned and keep both Saturday and Sunday open so we can make some significant progress.

[Trassin]

we do not have a full slate of delegates due to the large number of signatures and district by district candidates.

If you know people in illinois that can help - have them contact ilpetitions@gmail.com

What? I thought we had enough delegates to cover all districts?

As for signatures, we could certainly use help from anyone that lives in the border states. The numbers that we need to get are pretty over whelming. If you can help out contact the e-mail address above.

[walt]

not certain on the first part, my data might be old - but seriously if anyone on this board knows people who live here who aren't involved please reach out ASAP.

[Trassin]

not certain on the first part, my data might be old - but seriously if anyone on this board knows people who live here who aren't involved please reach out ASAP.

Yeah, I think we are good on delegates. We really do need help with signatures though.

[JenHarris]

The campaign has organized delegates in all districts of IL, and we're in the process of gathering signatures now. The campaign hired someone to coordinate the effort so if you want to help call them up and they'll put you in touch.

[Trassin]

The campaign has organized delegates in all districts of IL, and we're in the process of gathering signatures now. The campaign hired someone to coordinate the effort so if you want to help call them up and they'll put you in touch.

The e-mail address above is for the person hired by the campaign.

[Nefertiti]

We may already have a full slate of delegates but for them to get on the ballot we need signatures. Those of you in Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, if you can make it over the border next weekend it would be a big help for us to get Ron Paul on the ballot.

[Trassin]

We may already have a full slate of delegates but for them to get on the ballot we need signatures. Those of you in Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, if you can make it over the border next weekend it would be a big help for us to get Ron Paul on the ballot.

You got something against Kentucky :P

[Trassin]

Bump! Please come to Illinois this coming weekend and help out!

[Nefertiti]

Does Kentucky border Illinois? I didn't know that. Look, I'm from California and 99.995% of the time I have spent in my 7 years in Illinois has been within the borders of the city of Chicago so I have to admit I am pretty unaware of these sorts of things. I've been to Evanston 3 times and I have passed through downstate on a road trip to Saint Louis, I went birdwatching on the North Shore once, and have passed through the area north of Chicago on the way to and from Milwaukee last year. Other than that, I've spent all my time in the city.

[Trassin]

Does Kentucky border Illinois?

Yes, http://nrc.uchsc.edu/STATES/united-states-map.jpg

[Elwar]

Illinois sucks as far as ballot access and signatures. Every election for the Libertarian Party there is a battle in Illinois.

Not to say this will happen, but a lesson to learn from them...the LP needed X number of signatures, as usual the LP overshoots that number by about 10-20%. The Republican or Democrat party can "question" the signatures in such a way that if they pull that card there's
a process where they go through each signature to verify its accuracy. The people who verify
it are local party people. There are always calls for Libertarians from all around to come in and
supervise the signature verification process.

Just saying...hopefully they don't try to pull anything to keep the establishment in place.

[Trassin]

Illinois sucks as far as ballot access and signatures. Every election for the Libertarian Party there is a battle in Illinois.

Not to say this will happen, but a lesson to learn from them...the LP needed X number of signatures, as usual the LP overshoots that number by about 10-20%. The Republican or Democrat party can "question" the signatures in such a way that if they pull that card there's
a process where they go through each signature to verify its accuracy. The people who verify
it are local party people. There are always calls for Libertarians from all around to come in and
supervise the signature verification process.

Just saying...hopefully they don't try to pull anything to keep the establishment in place.

We are expecting exactly that and as a result have set our goals at 140% - 200% above what we actually need.

In my district we need 1800 so I have my meetup group working to get 2700 at least.

The real issue is just getting enough people out walking around going Door-to-Door in some of the larger southern districts, such as mine. There are a ton of small towns that could easily provide 100+ signatures, we just need the people to get to all of them.

[Trassin]

Bump

[bmcosti]

bump.

Illinois has some of the hardest petitioning requirements in the Nation. We really need the help.h

[ronpaulyourmom]

Can somebody further outline the entire process and the requirements we have to meet?

[me3]

bump

[billjarrett]

Hi,
I've been lurking here for a long time, and this is my first post. I am running petitions in the 8th when I have time (full time student + full time job + hour commute each way + being a dad/husband doesn't leave ALOT of time, but I get out some). Maybe it's just the town I'm in (Mundelein), but it has been a really hard sell for me to get people to sign.

Anyways, if anyone is up in my area and wants to help, it would be appreciated. Also, our area meetup is group is having a drive on Saturday meeting at the (new tonight) Arlington Heights office ( http://ronpaul.meetup.com/94/calendar/6693608/ ) for districts 6, 8, and 10. Looks like theres one going on in the city too (http://ronpaul.meetup.com/94/calendar/6690407/ ). Any help would be appreciated out here.

[walt]

bump - we desperately need help this 3-day weekend downstate and near Chicago.

If you live in Memphis, Saint Louis or Western Indiana please email ilpetitions@gmail.com and they will hook you up with a group needing help.

If you know of people painting the town Ron, get them to focus on what matters.

We also need volunteers to respond. Many are not responding fast enough, for some people we have nothing but email addresses.

[Santana28]

Hey Bill...

I live up the road in Gurnee. Are you a member of the Northern Lake County Meetup? We're not very organized at the moment but we're trying to get it going...

I'm going to try my best to make it to Arlington Heights on Saturday. I signed up to be a delegate but at the moment my work schedule only allows me one day a week to get out and petition. Maybe you and I could team up for the next few weekends...

Anyways, PM me or i'll see you on Saturday!

[walt]

bump

hello board - what are you doing to help this situation today? I'd love creative thoughts. I'd love actions even more.

[Nefertiti]

Two thoughts-
1-We need to collect phone numbers of supporters in Illinois. This issue was raised during the NBC march as we realized less than 24 hours notice by email we weren't going to get the word out to everyone who might be interested to come. We need a quicker mobilization system, and that could be phone or text messages in some cases.

2-We need to share strategies on how to get people to sign. Here in Hyde Park our opening line was, "Do you want to sign a petition to get an anti-war candidate on the ballot for president?" What has worked for others?

[LibertyEagle]

We are expecting exactly that and as a result have set our goals at 140% - 200% above what we actually need.

In my district we need 1800 so I have my meetup group working to get 2700 at least.

The real issue is just getting enough people out walking around going Door-to-Door in some of the larger southern districts, such as mine. There are a ton of small towns that could easily provide 100+ signatures, we just need the people to get to all of them.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't I see Bradley write about this and say that typically the goal should be THREE times what you need, in case there are problems with some of the signatures? :confused:

[Nefertiti]

PS-Change the title of this thread to IL Needs your help-Calling WI, IN, IA, KY etc.

[walt]

This is the IL office number 847 845-7935

[Bruehound]

Walt, that is my cell number. The office number will not be activated until the 12th. I do welcome all relevant calls however. :)
I will help to coordinate all northern illinois volunteers for this weekend if anyone has questions.

Scott

[noxagol]

I live down in Collinsville in Madison County, what can I do?

[Nefertiti]

You're Scott B., right?

[ChicagoLawyer]

As said above, we are in great need of people to help get signatures. Go to this page:

http://ronpaul.meetup.com/94/messages/boards/view/viewthread?thread=3732321

And contact Jason Acebal, our ballot coordinator. We have to get a certain amount of signatures in each Congressional District (there are 19 of them), with hundreds in each one. Some don't have many so far and we need them by Thanksgiving. If you live in Illinois or in a nearby area please contact Jason and help us out.

Sign up for Saturday's event (11/10/07) if you want to help out in the 5th District (most of the north side of the City of Chicago, plus some western suburbs):

http://ronpaul.meetup.com/94/calendar/6690407/

Also, for those who have petition sheets in hand, if nothing else you can stand outside a train stop after work for an hour or so. You can easily get 10-15 signatures an hour that way. Every last one helps.

[Bruehound]

Yes i am Scott B. Nefertiti

[Santana28]

not to be a downer, but this came from the dayton ohio meetup group...


to ronpaul-102


"Recently my daughter who lives in Chicago was walking down Michigan Ave. and a man approached her to sign a petition for Ron Paul to get on the Illinois primary ballot. She said she would sign, but when her boyfriend was asked, he wanted to think about it. The alleged petition gatherer immediately went off on a profanity-laced tirade in front of his daughter of around seven or eight y ears old. Needless to say my daughter did not sign the petition, nor did the half-a-dozen or so folks who witnessed the incident. We can't read this guys mind, but I'd say the chances are about even or better that he is a neocon GOP operative on a mission. In any case, be careful out there. I'll get back with you tomorrow. "

John M.
Greene County GOP Central Committee
Beavercreek, Ohio

[Nefertiti]

This is suspicious. I can't imagine a real supporter would have collected signatures (at least for delegates) on Michigan Avenue. The reason being there are so many people from all over coming downtown that you would have a hard time knowing what district's petition they should be signing.

[Santana28]

well...maybe theres someone out there who isn't exactly "all there"

i'm not sure what to believe about that one, but you are right - it doesn't make much sense.

[walt]

not to be a downer, but this came from the dayton ohio meetup group...


to ronpaul-102


"Recently my daughter who lives in Chicago was walking down Michigan Ave. and a man approached her to sign a petition for Ron Paul to get on the Illinois primary ballot. She said she would sign, but when her boyfriend was asked, he wanted to think about it. The alleged petition gatherer immediately went off on a profanity-laced tirade in front of his daughter of around seven or eight y ears old. Needless to say my daughter did not sign the petition, nor did the half-a-dozen or so folks who witnessed the incident. We can't read this guys mind, but I'd say the chances are about even or better that he is a neocon GOP operative on a mission. In any case, be careful out there. I'll get back with you tomorrow. "

John M.
Greene County GOP Central Committee
Beavercreek, Ohio

yeah, this is bogus I bet.

[Birdlady]

not to be a downer, but this came from the dayton ohio meetup group...


to ronpaul-102


"Recently my daughter who lives in Chicago was walking down Michigan Ave. and a man approached her to sign a petition for Ron Paul to get on the Illinois primary ballot. She said she would sign, but when her boyfriend was asked, he wanted to think about it. The alleged petition gatherer immediately went off on a profanity-laced tirade in front of his daughter of around seven or eight y ears old. Needless to say my daughter did not sign the petition, nor did the half-a-dozen or so folks who witnessed the incident. We can't read this guys mind, but I'd say the chances are about even or better that he is a neocon GOP operative on a mission. In any case, be careful out there. I'll get back with you tomorrow. "

John M.
Greene County GOP Central Committee
Beavercreek, Ohio

I did a quick Google search and found no one by the name of John M. on the Greene County GOP Central Committee. Perhaps his name is not listed but this looks fake.

[schmeisser]

This is suspicious. I can't imagine a real supporter would have collected signatures (at least for delegates) on Michigan Avenue. The reason being there are so many people from all over coming downtown that you would have a hard time knowing what district's petition they should be signing.

Good catch! Definitely doesn't sound right. Out on Michigan Ave. you'd be hard pressed to find an actual resident.

[walt]

another day of ZERO new help from the national campaign, Alex or anyone else.

is anyone listening? does anyone want Ron Paul to win? I'm starting to wonder....

[Santana28]

i have the guy's full name from the meetup email, i just deleted the rest due to not wanting to expose his name online....

i really dont think this guy is just making this up. i'll be happy to email him myself personally and try to find out more information... but i have absolutely no reason to believe he's not legit. the dayton meetup is pretty strong (i'm originally from dayton and i visit from time to time, so i keep in touch). perhaps his daughter just exaggerated. who knows.

walt, your negativity is really starting to get to me.

lesson learned - Dont attack people who you want to have support from!!

i'm sorry to say i have personally met people who fit this description and unfortunately i could see something like this happening in real life. But that said, it could just as easily be someone deliberately trying to make Ron Paul supporters look bad. Who the heck knows. Lets just stay positive, stay aware, and get the job done the way it should be done.

[bmcosti]

The national campaign does know about the difficult ballot access situation here in Illinois, and will be sending in petitioning resources on Monday, or soon thereafter. It is just a matter of how much money they will have to kick in. The more signatures we get by volunteers the more money the campaign can save for Iowa, NH, MI, NV, and SC.

We have the people, we just need to turn them out and get the signatures.

Every dollar counts!

[Nefertiti]

This is really sad. We can get 1500 enthusiastic supporters to come out to hear Ron Paul speak ONE TIME but we can't even get 15 people willing to collect signatures so he can be our president for 4 plus years? This is really upsetting. I'm going to see if we have a signature collecting drive planned here in our neighborhood for district 1 and 2 again and do that this weekend, otherwise I will help out with the blue line event. Who else is willing to step up for our man?

[walt]

walt, your negativity is really starting to get to me.

lesson learned - Dont attack people who you want to have support from!!




try living what you preach.

[walt]

The national campaign does know about the difficult ballot access situation here in Illinois, and will be sending in petitioning resources on Monday, or soon thereafter.


What does "will be sending in petitioning resources" mean?

[ChicagoLawyer]

It means paying people to come into Illinois to get signatures. It would be nice if we didn't have to do this. Illinois Ron Paul fans-- if you do ONE thing for Ron Paul this year it MUST be to get signatures to get Ron Paul and our delegates on the ballot. Please follow the links I posted a few pages back and help out!!!

You can't vote for Ron Paul if he isn't on the ballot, and in a number of Congressional districts in Illinois this VERY WELL might happen if we don't step up.

[walt]

It means paying people to come into Illinois to get signatures. It would be nice if we didn't have to do this. Illinois Ron Paul fans-- if you do ONE thing for Ron Paul this year it MUST be to get signatures to get Ron Paul and our delegates on the ballot. Please follow the links I posted a few pages back and help out!!!

You can't vote for Ron Paul if he isn't on the ballot, and in a number of Congressional districts in Illinois this VERY WELL might happen if we don't step up.


There are people here in Illinois that have part time jobs that would love to blow off that job for a few days if they were working for Ron Paul.

If the campaign flies in people from out of state that is not only highly inefficient, it's also the end of my contributions.

[steph3n]

There are people here in Illinois that have part time jobs that would love to blow off that job for a few days if they were working for Ron Paul.

If the campaign flies in people from out of state that is not only highly inefficient, it's also the end of my contributions.

Maybe you should work to get them in contact instead of complaining?
There are advisors however that can work to organize these volunteers and part time people as well, the organizers may well be from out of state.

[walt]

Maybe you should work to get them in contact instead of complaining?
There are advisors however that can work to organize these volunteers and part time people as well, the organizers may well be from out of state.


Maybe you should get on a plane to Illinois instead of attacking someone who actually gives a shit enough to talk about this issue.

[ChicagoLawyer]

Everyone please calm down about this and just get to work if you're in Illinois. If you're not close to Illinois then get to work in your own state.

I don't know if the campaign would fly in petitioners or not, but if they did they would be people who do this for a living. These are people who move all over the country gathering signatures for various candidates and causes. They're basically signature mercenaries. They can gather signatures very effectively, probably better than any of us volunteers. However, of course, they come with a cost and volunteers are free.

[Bruehound]

I understand the passionate statements people make about this issue because it is a "mission critical" situation for the campaing to have a successfull ballot drive. It is also somewhat embarassing to our pride to accept assistance. Let's not forget we all believe in a philosphy of self reliance. There are two points to keep in mind however:

1. Illinois truly does have some of the most difficult ballot acccess requirments to navigate.

2. Although it is obvious we would prefer to see campaing funds spent on voter comunications, bringing in pro's to bolster the grassroots means professional petitioneers. There are many of these people out there and this is their specialty and trust me they are amazingly efficeint at their profession.

Our first priority should be to mobilize the grassroots this weekend. This is the tedious, unglamorous grunt work all campaigns must go through before the precinct walking and voter identification process can begin.

We have to work shoulder to shoulder in the trenches until this is done.

For Illinois readers, please RSVP with your Meetup for petitioning events in your region.This is to help us prepare the walking lists.(for the Arlington Heights dispatching)

[ChicagoLawyer]

bump

[Wyurm]

There are people here in Illinois that have part time jobs that would love to blow off that job for a few days if they were working for Ron Paul.

If the campaign flies in people from out of state that is not only highly inefficient, it's also the end of my contributions.

This sort of behavior on your part is highly uncalled for. I understand you are worried about getting Dr. Paul on the ballot, and so am I. I've scheduled a door-to-door campaign for tomorrow in my district, so instead of whining, moaning, and threatening to stop donating, perhaps you too could get out and get as many signatures as you can. I mean no offense, however, your insults and threats are beyond offensive, especially to those of us who are trying our best.

It only takes one person to go out and gather petitions, so just do it and RESPECTFULLY report back on your progress. We will get Dr. Paul on the ballot if its the last thing I do.

[Nefertiti]

We are going to be finishing off district 1 here in Hyde Park tomorrow morning and then on Sunday start hitting district 2 (probably in South Shore), because apparently we are desperate in that area. If anyone who lives on the Southside, south suburbs or Northwest Indiana (the location is accessible by the Northern Indiana commuter train and Metra Electric Line from the suburbs and downtown, as well as buses from downtown) wants to join us. PM me with your contact details and I will get the details about meeting up to you as soon as I have them.

[Trassin]

This sort of behavior on your part is highly uncalled for. I understand you are worried about getting Dr. Paul on the ballot, and so am I. I've scheduled a door-to-door campaign for tomorrow in my district, so instead of whining, moaning, and threatening to stop donating, perhaps you too could get out and get as many signatures as you can. I mean no offense, however, your insults and threats are beyond offensive, especially to those of us who are trying our best.

It only takes one person to go out and gather petitions, so just do it and RESPECTFULLY report back on your progress. We will get Dr. Paul on the ballot if its the last thing I do.

First: I agree with Wyurm completely. There are many of us working very hard to get Ron Paul on the ballot here in Illinois and I too find your comments offensive.

Second: The campaign wouldn't be "flying people in". When people talk about the campaign paying people to help get signatures they are talking about paying professional petitioners per signature that they get.

Is it highly inefficent, yes, but it may be necessary if the grassroots effort is unable to gather enough signatures. Also, it is how most campaigns get their signatures and the expense for it has already been calculated into the official campaign effort.

Finally: If you live in Illinois or near the border PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do your best to get out and help gather these signatures. The only reason I'm not doing so myself at this very moment is because I'm stuck at work for another 2 1/2 hours. Of course the bonus of that is the over time I'm getting will allow me to contribute to www.teaparty07.com

Edit: One last thing. For anyone who is affraid to go Door-to-Door the Edwardsville Meetup will be participating in the Edwardsville Veteran's Day Parade this Sunday. We would love to have anyone that can make it out come help gather signatures.

[Nefertiti]

I should add that in Hyde Park at least we are not going door-to-door but rather will be doing it in front of busy locations like restaurants and grocery stores so that is another option for those afraid of door-to-door.

[Nefertiti]

Bump before I go prepare dinner. Hope some of you can make it out there over the weekend.

[Trassin]

Deleted post... wasn't very constructive. Really wish I could be out getting signatures right now and the frustration got the better of me.

[walt]

First: I agree with Wyurm completely. There are many of us working very hard to get Ron Paul on the ballot here in Illinois and I too find your comments offensive.

Second: The campaign wouldn't be "flying people in". When people talk about the campaign paying people to help get signatures they are talking about paying professional petitioners per signature that they get.

Is it highly inefficent, yes, but it may be necessary if the grassroots effort is unable to gather enough signatures. Also, it is how most campaigns get their signatures and the expense for it has already been calculated into the official campaign effort.

Finally: If you live in Illinois or near the border PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do your best to get out and help gather these signatures. The only reason I'm not doing so myself at this very moment is because I'm stuck at work for another 2 1/2 hours. Of course the bonus of that is the over time I'm getting will allow me to contribute to www.teaparty07.com

Edit: One last thing. For anyone who is affraid to go Door-to-Door the Edwardsville Meetup will be participating in the Edwardsville Veteran's Day Parade this Sunday. We would love to have anyone that can make it out come help gather signatures.


This is not aimed at folks like you Trassin - you rock :D

[Trassin]

Bump

[purplechoe]

I will be going with my meet-up group tomorrow. The door-to-door things is not my thing, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

[Trassin]

I will be going with my meet-up group tomorrow. The door-to-door things is not my thing, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Good to hear, Purplechoe. It really does get easier after you've done it a couple of times.

[Trassin]

Bump! Ron Paul has put out an official request for help. Look here for more information: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=34730