This article, pubished August 25, shows how a candidate for City Council in Ocala, Florida, was told by city election officials that his petition would not be valid because he collected the signatures before opening a campaign bank account. So, he didn’t file the signatures. Later he learned that the petition would have been valid if he had only turned it in.
As usual – ANY thing that a govt MORON tells you about ANY thing is useless.
The LAW is the LAW — regardless of such MORONS — which are getting more and more numerous in this New Age of MORON governments.
I.E. One must check the LAW involved in ballot access.
Again there should be a penalty when wrong info is given.
[a] 2100 North East 30 Avenue, Ocala FL 34470
[b] 601 South East 25th Avenue, Ocala FL 34471
[c] 2121 South West 19th Avenue Road, Ocala 34471
[d] 903 North East Osceola Avnue, Ocala FL 34471
public agency addresses …….
Never trust information from a state employee given over a phone. Always double-check. Call back and talk to another election official and see if they give you the same answer.
This reminds me of two different problems at the Suffolk County Board of Elections:
1. The workers do not know stuff and give out wrong information.
Recently, a potential candidate called me and said the BOE told him it was too late to file petitions, the deadline to file was over. But, that was the deadline for parties. There was still time for filing “Independent Nominating Petitions.
To check, I called myself, and sure enough, when I asked the deadline to file independent nominating petitions, they did not know the words “independent nominating”, and they kept looking it up and telling me it was too late. I told them they were wrong and asked to talk to a Commissioner and finally got a good answer. But, wonder if they chased a lot of candidates away that way. That is the Katherine Harris method. Create chaos by having hirelings that do not know their job.
2. I have heard many past stories (have not heard this year) where candidates go with their packet of petitions and the Board of Elections convinces them not to file. If a candidates (and her volunteers) goes to all the trouble to file, of course they should file what they have. And, if the BOE wants to reject, force them to make the decision and do it. But, at least two times, I have heard of the BOE taking someone into a room and making the candidate think they will be embarrassed or in trouble if they file.
My easy (ie: middle ground, sellable to the public) solution to this in NY: Ask for a state law that instead of all workers at the BOE being Dem or Rep, that there be one person – probably a Commissioner-level, but, maybe just an info person — who is a “Third party/Independent Ombudsperson.” That person could help independent candidates, third party candidates, and also insurgent candidates in primaries.
Also, if the state will not do it, I believe that a local county Board of Elections, through the County Legislature, could just create this position of Ombudsperson and appoint someone whose political part is NOT Democrat or Republican.
After the NY State Senate debacle, we should probably try it.
The link above is to a news article. There’s also an editorial in the same newspaper — the Ocala Star-Banner — at this address:
http://www.ocala.com/article/20090827/OPINION/908271012/1008/OPINION?Title=-65279-65279-Too-complicated
The matter is also being discussed on the newspaper’s on-line forum. City officials and candidates are reading the discussion, which is at:
http://forums.ocala.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8651007465/m/8851098309/p/5
The disqualified candidate’s phone number is in that thread if anyone knows anyone in Florida who can help him. He’s looking for a lawyer pro-bono.
This matter will come up at Ocala’s next city council meeting on Tuesday, September 1.
Brian Creekbaum
Ocala, Florida