DBC Sez: 5% is Victory!

Main Page Who is David B. Collins? What does the Green Party stand for? Why 5% = Victory? Where is DBC appearing (and when)? How can we fix the mess we're in? How much can we donate? Why go Green in 2008? (PDF) External Greenness Other Green candidates Harris County Green Party Green Party of Texas Green Party of the United States Speech! a little speech written for, but never used at, a candidates' forum (PDF)

The State of Texas, for all its beauty and grandeur, has some of the strangest laws (and legislators) in the USA. Its laws regarding getting your political party on the ballot are arcane, the criteria nearly insurmountable. They protect the two major parties' lock on power very effectively. If the Green Party, or any other, manages to get on the ballot, and then any candidate for statewide office gets 5% of the vote, then the party does not have to work so hard to get on for the next statewide election two years later. In 2000, the Green Party got on the ballot, then had three candidates get that magical 5% (thanks in part to no Democrats bothering to run for those offices!). Usually less than 7 million Texas voters, or half of those registered, vote in presidential elections. That means that some Green candidate needs to draw about 350,000 votes statewide. This year, Democrats are running, and they smell blood. Our job will be a lot harder. Fortunately, we believe that enough Texans are fed up with both major parties, and will vote for the Greens and other "third parties" in great numbers. The criteria for getting on the ballot look something look this: First, get a whole mess of signatures on a multi-page petition. How many? Equal to 1% of the total votes cast in the most recent election for governor. In other words, usually about 45,000 people must attest that they think your party should appear on the November ballot. Those 45,000 signatures have to be verified as legitimate, coming from (1) registered Texas voters who (2) did not vote in a party primary that year and (3) attend a party convention, and (4) did not sign any other party's petition. The signature lines must include an accurate address of date of birth for each signer. Since typically about one-third of signatures are not legitimate or accurate, that means really the figure is closer to 70,000. Oh yeah, these signatures also must be collected and submitted to the Secretary of State in a period of 75 days following the party's precinct (or county) conventions.