Since it is winter it makes the most sense to start in a warm weather state.  The warmest states on the list are New Mexico and Alabama.

New Mexico requires about 4,200 valid signatures to regain ballot status and Alabama requires about 40,000 valid signatures to regain ballot status.

Some of you out there may be thinking,  "We just had an election,  it is too early to think about the next election."

If anyone out there is thinking this,  my response to you is that this is flawed thinking.  The day to start thinking about the next election IS ON ELECTION DAY!

Ballot access petitioning is something that has to be done or you don't have any candidates on the ballot and you might as well not be a political party.  If anyone out there doesn't want to be on the ballot,  I say fine,  quit the party and engage in some other type of activism.

Being on the ballot has great value even if you don't win elections because being on the ballot puts your ideas out in the public arena.  The fact of the matter is that the Libertarian Party is one of the best - if not the best - advertisements for libertarian ideas that there is.  A large percentage of people who are in the Libertarian Movement came into the movement because of a political campaign.  Speaking for myself,  I got involved after being exposed to the Harry Browne for President campaign back in 1996.

A political party that is not on the ballot might as well not even be a political party.  If you aren't on the ballot nobody can vote for you and even less people will listen to your ideas.

Going back to 1992 the Libertarian Party was on the ballot in all 50 states plus DC.  In 1996 it was on the ballot in all 50 states plus DC.  In 2000 it was on the ballot in all 50 states plus DC.  In 2004 the Libertarian Party was on the ballot in 48 states plus DC.  In 2008 the Libertarian was only on the ballot in 45 states.

Does everyone see a pattern here of the Libertarian Party going downhill over the last 8 years?  

Do you want to continue this trend for the next election cycle?  The Libertarian Party was only on the ballot in 45 states in 2008 which was the worst ballot access for the party in a Presidential year since either 1984 or 1988 (depending on how you want to consider it).  What do you want for 2012?  42 states?  40 states?  38 states?

Do you want to be a part of a Libertarian Party that moves backwards or moves ahead?

Right now SHOULD BE ripe picking for the Libertarian Party with increased public outrage over the economy,  trillion dollar plus bailouts,  the war in Iraq,  domestic spying,  eminent domain abuse being OK'd by the Supreme Court,  etc...  The Ron Paul r3VOLution PROVED that there is a much larger constituency for liberty than many people thought there was.  The Libertarian Party SHOULD BE at the forefront of the r3VOLution.

Guess what?  We can't be at the forefront of anything if we aren't even on the ballot!

Some of you out there may be thinking something like,  "I'm just going to wait for the LNC/LP National to act.  They will get us on the ballot."

I hate to break it to you,  but it was LP National that mismanaged ballot access in 2008.  The money and the manpower was there to get on the ballot in 49 states plus DC,  and if LP ballot access in Oklahoma had been started in September of 2007 it is quite possible that even that ballot access barrier could have been overcome (note that the LNC opted to back a ballot initiative in Oklahoma to reduce the signature requirements in that state instead of going for ballot access,  and note that that ballot initiative failed to make the ballot during the circulation time frame for initiatives which is shorter than the circulation time period for putting candidates on the ballot and also requires more signatures than candidate petitions).

It is quite foolish to sit around and wait for a bureaucracy like the LNC/LP National to act.

Here is what they will do.  They will debate the issue and put it off until the last minute and then do a mad dash to get on the ballot.  They will pay out more money than necessary,  hire a bunch of mercenaries and bums off the street who do shoddy work and don't give a rat's behind about the Libertarian Party,  and some of these drives will end up failing,  thus BLOWING a lot of donor money with NOTHING to show for it (as what happened in several states in 2008).  

Is this what you want for the Libertarian Party?  Do you like seeing your donations get wasted in this manner?

I can tell you that well over $100,000 was SQUANDERED by LP National on failed ballot access drives,  mercenaries who did lousy work (it is a good thing that signatures did not get challenged in some states or we'd have ended up with less than 45 states this year due to the bad validity from many of the mercenary petitioners),  law suits which would not have been necessary had the ballot access work been done right in the first place,  overpaid fundraisers,  and a Political Director who just got in the way and screwed things up.    

Again,  do you people want a repeat episode for the next election cycle,  or would you prefer to learn a lesson from this and do things right the next time?

Some people out there see ballot access petitioning as this big pain in the butt thing that we have to do every eleciton cycle and we should put it off and not think about it until the last minute,  and then we should throw a bunch of money at it and hire whoever and hope that the ballot access problem goes away.

Now I will agree that ballot access petitioning can certainly be a pain in the butt,  however,  the fact of the matter is that unless a bunch of people can change the way that candidates get on the ballot it is a fact of life as a political party that it is something that we have to do.  Also,  keep in mind that there are several states where even the Democrats and Republicans have to gather petition signatures to place candidates on the ballot,  and in a few of those cases those requirements are just as difficult - and in a small handful of cases - even more difficult than getting minor party and independent candidates on the ballot.  For instance,  try getting in the Democrat or Republican Presidential primaries in Pennsylvania with a full slate of delegates (3 to 4 delegates,  plus 3 to 4 alternate delegates for 19 congressional districts,  each delegate and alternate delegate requires 250 signatures on seperate petitions,  plus another petition which requires 2,000 signatures for the Presidential candidate to be on the ballot.  The petitioning period only last for 3 weeks and it is in late January-mid February when it is freezing cold out.  Oh yeah,  and to make things even more difficult,  only registered Republicans can sign for a Republican and only registered Democrats can sign for a Democrat.),  it is pretty freakin' difficult.  

For those of you who only think of ballot access petitioning as this big pain in the butt thing that we have to do,  here is something that you ought to consider.  Ballot access petitioning is actually a good opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade.

Why do I say this?

Because it is an excellent opportunity to do lots of in person outreach to the public.  Ballot access petitioning is an excellent chance for people to find out that there is a Libertarian Party (there are still a lot of people who don't know that the party exsists) and to find out what the Libertarian Party is about (many people have misconceptions about it).  Ballot access petitioning is an excellent chance for people to meet an actual Libertarian in person (assuming that the person gathering the petiton signatures is actually a Libertarian,  which unfortunately,  all too often they are NOT).  Ballot access petitioning is an excellent time for people to be given Libertarian pamphlets,  flyers,  DVDs,  etc...  Ballot access petitioning is an excellent time to register people to vote as Libertarians (if you are in a state that has partisan voter registration).  Ballot access petitioning is an excellent time to obtain contact information for people who say they are interested in the Libertarian Party.  Ballot access petitioning is an excellent time to start up or expand Libertarian Clubs on college campuses.  

My point here is that instead of just looking at ballot access petitiong as that pain in the butt thing that we have to do every election cycle,  it ought to be looked at as an opportunity to engage in actual real world outreach and to build the Libertarian Party.

What is the difference between real Libertarian petitioners and mercenaries?  Real Libertarian petitioners tend to bring in more signatures than mercenaries.  Real Libertarians consistently get higher validity on the signatures that they gather as compared to mercenaries (Signatures can be disqualified for a variety of reasons.  Real Libertarians take extra care in screening potential signers and making sure that they sign the petition right,  unlike many mercenaries who are either too incompetent to do this,  or do not care and hope that nobody in the Libertarian Party will catch on to their poor validity so they can bilk the party for more money (I can tell you for a fact that there were mercenary petitioners who did this in 2008).  Real Libertarian petitioners combine Libertarian outreach along with their petitioning which is something that NO mercenary petitioner will ever do.

Here is an example.  Real Libertarian petitioner Jake Witmer was in Alabama this past summer.  While he was there he gathered some signatures at the University of Alabama (which is located in Tuscaloosa).  While there,  he took it upon himself to gather contacts from students on the campus to restart the College Libertarian Club at that campus.  Jake did this even though he was not being paid to do it.  Are any of you people out there naive enough to think that this is something that ANY mercenary petitioner would do?

Here is another example.  Last year I gathered signatures for Libertarian Party ballot access in Pennsylvania and Alabama.  While in those states,  I handed out thousands of Libertarian Party flyers and pamphlets at gun shows,  on college campuses,  and at other locations (such as on Tax Day - April 15th - when I gathered signatures outside of a Post Office that was off of a city sidewalk.  I handed out World's Smallest Political Quizes and Libertarian Party anti-tax literature to people while I gathered signatures there).  I have been doing stuff like this for the entire 8 1/2 years that I've worked as a petitioner (I joined the Libertarian Party in 1996 and started working as a petitioner in 2000),  and a lot of it has been done at my own expense.  While I was in Pennsylvania,  I attended several Ron Paul Meet Up groups and other Ron Paul events (I got almost everyone at these meetings and events to sign the Libertarian Party ballot access petition) and at one Ron Paul Meet Up,  I actually got up in front of a group of around 40 people and gave a short speech about why everyone there should join the Libertarian Party in addition to supporting the Ron Paul for President campaign.  Fellow real Libertarian petitioner Mark Pickens was in Pennsylvania and Alabama with me and he did things like this as well.  While Mark and I were in Pennsylvania we were the ones who qualified a Libertarian Party candidate for the ballot for Congress in the most rural congressional district in Pennsylvania,  a part of the state that where no mercenary would work,  so if we hadn't been there that candidate would not have made it on the ballot,  and that candidate ended up being the only Libertarian Party candidate for Congress to qualify for the ballot in Pennsylvania last year.  Do any of you people out there really believe that any mercenary petitioner is going to do anything like what I just mentioned here?  

So the equation goes like this:  Mercenary petitioners = don't give a damn about the Libertarian Party,  just out to make a quick buck and will often cut corners and do sloppy work and will never do anything to promote/build the Libertarian Party.  Real Libertarian petitioners = always make a solid effort to do the job right,  have a track record to prove it,  and actually want to build the Libertarian Party and make it more successful.

Real Libertarian petitioners are the BACKBONE of Libertarian Party ballot access.  Real Libertarin petitioners could knock a lot of the ballot access work that needs to be done IF ballot access is started early.  Starting ballot access early and making the best use out of the few REAL Libertarians who are willing and able to do the job means that the Libertarian Party will not have to rely as much on mercenaries who all too often get poor validity on the signatures that they collect and who do NOTHING to build the Libertarian Party.  It is a FACT that last minute petition drives that use mostly mercenaries cost more money and are more likely to end in failure.      

Now ask yourself,  what is the best way to do this?  Is it to put ballot access petitioning off until 2010 and 2012 and to hire a bunch of mercenaries to do "last minute fire drill" petition drives,  or is it better to start early and have a crew of expierenced petitioners who are also REAL Libertarians on the ground in the states where we can start early and knock out as many of the ballot access requirements for 2010 and 2012 as possible?

Another factor that needs to be mentioned here is competition from other petition drives,  primarily initiative & referendum petition drives.  There are 24 states plus the District of Columbia that have the initiative & referendum via petition process (plus there are a few states that have the process at the county and/or city level only).  Once initiative or referendum petition drives start up it becomes more difficult to hire petitioners to come and work on Libertarian Party ballot access petitions in other states.  Initiative & referendum petitions often times pay more money than Libertarian Party ballot access petitions and if there are multiple initiative or referenda petitions going on at the same time,  petitioners can "stack" these petitions and make more money.  Due to the laws of supply and demand,  the competition for petitioners can become intense and this drives up prices.  This is yet another reason why the Libertarian Party should start ballot access early,  because if the Libertarian Party starts ballot access early there will be less instances where the Libertarian Party has to compete with initiative or referendum petition drives for the services of petitioners.  

If you agree with me and think that it is better to learn from our mistakes as a party and do things in an intelligent,  rational manner (unlike the way ballot access was handled in 2008),  then I urge you to make a donation to get ballot access started RIGHT NOW.  You can make a donation two ways:

1)  Go to www.FreedomBallotAccess.org and then go to their donation page which is https://secure.donortownsquare.com/SSL/donate.aspx?sgst=0&amt=0&ai=629&qs=J5TMH .

If you'd prefer to mail a check or money order to Freedom Ballot Access,  the address is as follows:

Freedom Ballot Access
c/o George Phillies
48 Hancock Hill Drive
Worcester,  MA 01609

2)  You can send the money directly to a Libertarian Party state affiliate.  I would recomend that you send the money to the Libertarian Party of New Mexico.  They need approximately 4,200 valid signatures to regain ballot status and they can start right now.  You can mail them a check or money order to the following address:

Libertarian Party of New Mexico
918 Ivory Ranch Rd. SE
Rio Rancho,  NM 87124

The Vice Chairman of the Libertarian Party of New Mexico has told me that he'd like to get ballot access going in that state.  His name is Ron Bjornstad.  If anyone would like to contact Mr. Bjornstad his phone number is 505-891-4541 and his e-mail address is rbjornstad@earthlink.net ( http://www.lpnm.us/contacts.htm ).

Unfortunately,  the New Mexico Libertarian Party does not currently have a link where you can donate on-line (see http://www.lpnm.us/contribute.htm ),  so unless this gets worked out the only way to send a contribution directly to them is by regular mail.

We also have other states where we would like to get started as soon as possible,  such as Alabama,  so I urge everyone reading this to pitch in so we can get the ball rolling.

The longer the Libertarian Party puts off ballot access the greater the chance for ballot access failure is (see the ballot access failures of 2008),  and the less chance that ballot access will be done in an efficient manner.

So fellow Libertarians,  I ask,  do you want to do ballot access right for a change,  or do you want to continue the trend of ballot access failure which will surely be repeated if my advice is ignored?  The choice is yours.