Bill Brady’s niece, Brittany, blogged about her experience working on the petition challenge of the Libertarian Party candidate’s filing. Brady’s niece Brittany locked her blog, but we have it saved in an effort to keep Illinois politicians honest. Apparently, Brittany didn’t like the petition challenge experience much.

“I did not know that I would be doing this. I did not wake up this morning and say to myself, “how I wish I could verify petitions later this afteroon.” And after an hour or two at this job, I am now very positive that thought will never run across my mind in my life. It is painful, torturous work.”

Thank you Brittany, for telling the truth there. The title of the blog post is “Is it normal to start talking to people in your head that you don’t even know?”

Where did Brady’s niece Brittany get the idea to go work on a petition challenge? Apparently its all in the family.

“My cousin is here too, he is the one who got me into this whole mess. He called me while I was waiting for a press conference to be done and told me to get over to this building right away and to bring anyone I could.”

On June 21, 2010, John Fogarty bought a copy of the Libertarian Party candidate’s petitions at the State Board of Elections. Who paid the hundreds of dollars for those copies? Is John Fogarty, a lawyer, working pro bono for Andrew Heffernan, or is Andrew Heffernan paying Fogarty for it? As they say, follow the money.

“We have Bill Brady’s niece Brittany, Brittany’s cousin, John Fogarty, and Andrew Heffernan all working together on a petition challenge that would remove the Libertarian Party candidates from the ballot,” said Christina Tobin CEO of Free and Equal, Inc., a ballot access company founded in Chicago. “I don’t see where Andrew Heffernan has started a political committee in Illinois to account for his efforts and work on behalf of Bill Brady. So I have to ask if Brady and his operatives are donating their efforts to Heffernan, or if Heffernan is donating his efforts to Brady”

“Either way that should show up on Bill Brady’s campaign finance reports or Andrew Heffernan’s tax returns,” said Tobin. “I hope the Illinois Attorney General, the US Attorney’s office, and the IRS are paying attention to this. This is obviously campaign work and it must be accounted for, especially in a state with Illinois’ history of political corruption. Bill Brady and his Republican operatives should withdraw their expensive petition challenges today.”

Jim Anderson News Director for the Illinois Radio Network interviewed Christina Tobin for his syndicated half hour “Eye on Illinois” about Illinois election laws recently. Tobin discussed the difficulties candidates face getting on the ballot and solutions like a filing fee system, instant run-off voting, and proportional representation.

“Illinois needs to get rid of these private petition challenges that invite funny business and needless costs to taxpayers”, said Tobin. “Instituting a filing fee system for candidates to be on the ballot makes much more sense for everyone in Illinois.”

Atlanta, GA, July 21, 2010.  Mary Norwood, Independent candidate for Fulton County Commission Chair, today filed a request for a declaratory judgment in Fulton County Superior Court to reverse the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections’ decision to ban Norwood, asking the judge to allow Norwood to be on the ballot.

In the filing, her lawyers argue that the Board of Registration and Elections had discretion to allow Norwood on the ballot under Georgia law, and should have exercised that discretion based upon the Board’s finding that there was no harm from Norwood’s filing her notice of candidacy later that same filing day.  “Well over thirty thousand signatures gathered in 90 days speak volumes about what the people want,” commented Norwood.  “Voters clearly want to see more choice on the ballot.”

“We believe we will have enough valid signatures to meet Fulton County’s requirements to add my name to the ballot for Fulton County Commission Chair, which is vastly more than was required of my opponents,” added Norwood.  “We simply want a fair shot at getting on the ballot.  Let the people decide who should run the Commission in November.”

Norwood’s volunteer team of database specialists as well as the national petition company Free and Equal, Inc. have analyzed the registered voters who signed the petition forms.  Norwood has had one staff member working on validating registered voters since she began the petition campaign.

On July 13^th, Norwood’s campaign filed more than 33,000 signatures on nearly 3,200 notarized pages with Fulton County’s Department of Registration and Elections in support of Norwood’s independent bid.  “Mary’s perseverance and sacrifice to be an Independent candidate is something to be respected.  In more than 12 years of work, we’ve collected over one million signatures for candidates all over the country, and we have never seen the sort of support we see behind Mary Norwood to get her on the ballot,” added Christina Tobin, president of Free and Equal, Inc. “With the required 22,598 valid signatures from Fulton County voters, those voters deserve to see this happen in November.”

ATLANTA – Today, July 13, 2010, Mary Norwood, Independent candidate for Fulton County Commission Chair, plans to submit more than 23,000 signatures in her effort to gain ballot access for the November 2010 election. Norwood, her supporters and Christina Tobin, CEO of Free & Equal Inc., will present the petition forms to Barry Garner, director of Fulton County Registration and Elections at 11 a.m. at the Georgia State Board of Elections, 141 Pryor Street, Room 4075.

“Gathering 23,000 signatures was a herculean effort, and was only made possible by the groundswell of support from individuals in every part of Fulton County. Today, we created history by meeting one of the toughest ballot access requirements for an independent candidate in a county race in the entire U.S.,” Norwood said. “We can all be proud of our efforts.”

Norwood’s campaign team has worked tirelessly to produce the required number of signatures, totaling five percent of Fulton County registered voters in the 2008 election. Barry Garner and his staff will expeditiously review the petitions.

June 18th, Norwood hired professional petition gathering firm, Free and Equal, to amplify and reinforce the campaign’s efforts to obtain signatures. “It is a shame that candidates need to utilize professional signature gathering firms like ours to gain access to the ballot. We were pleased to augment the efforts of Mary Norwood in her campaign to get on the ballot as an independent candidate,” Tobin said. “Georgia’s ballot access seems designed to limit voter choice to two candidates from major parties. While this has been the history of the state, today’s presentation of the 23,000 signatures shows how important the independent voters’ voice is in elections in Georgia and other states.”

Norwood and her attorneys will present at 2 p.m. to the five-member Board of Registration and Elections, in Room 4056, her case for her to be a candidate on the ballot. The board will, at this meeting, vote to decide Norwood’s right to be on the ballot in November.

“Ballot access was never intended to have such onerous hurdles. In the democracy created by our Founding Fathers, any individual with the desire to enter public service should have a fair chance to be elected by the public to serve them,” added Norwood, who promises to assist other candidates in the future with their fight to gain ballot access in Georgia and other states.

The Board of Registration and Elections will also, at a later date, review the validity of several thousand signatures on a petition form with the word “Fulton” preprinted in the county space that was approved by the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections’ chief administrative officer and director. Norwood’s campaign is hopeful that the Board will validate the signatures by the law, their department’s written approval and common sense.

“Only with the name recognition of a Mary Norwood could this petition drive be this successful,” Tobin commented. “Georgia is one of the most difficult states to qualify as a non-political party member, even with superior name recognition in this effort.”

“My future political efforts will be centered on how to make ballot access in Georgia and other states more accessible,” Tobin said. “Georgia requires candidates from outside the two major parties to get signatures from 5% of the registered voters. That is the highest signature requirement in the United States. Because of that high ballot access barrier, Georgia has had fewer presidential candidates on the ballot in the last 30 years than any other state.”

“Another restriction to ballot access is that Georgia’s state definition of “political party” is a group that receives 20% of the vote for president in the entire U.S. or 20% for governor of Georgia,” Tobin said. “No party other than the Democrats and Republicans has met that definition in Georgia since 1912 when the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party got 27% for president in the entire U.S. The last 3rd party candidate for Georgia governor to receive 20% or more was in 1898. When a state like Georgia goes as long as it has without independent and 3rd party competition on the ballot, that is a sure sign that change is needed.”

Proponents of ballot access in Georgia and Norwood supporters will be in attendance at the 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. meetings at the Fulton County Government Center, located at 141 Pryor Street. The petition forms submissions will occur in Room 4075 and the 2 p.m. vote by the Board of Registration and Elections will take place in Room 4056.

“The board needs to let Mary run,” said Free and Equal CEO Christina Tobin. “Thirty-thousand people have signed the petitions to say they want to vote for her.”

Norwood came within 714 votes of getting elected Mayor last fall. Now a difference of four hours could keep her out of the race for Fulton County commission chair.

“Green party to stay on ballot”

The Texas Democratic Party cleared the way Wednesday for Green Party candidates to remain on the November ballot by dropping its state Supreme Court challenge to the legality of the Greens’ ballot access petition drive.

Texas Green Party Gets Favorable Ruling

The ruling was a victory for the Texas Green Party, which had appealed a decision by state District Judge John Dietz last week that blocked the party from naming candidates to the November ballot by a Friday deadline, in response to a lawsuit filed by the Texas Democratic Party.
…
Christina Tobin, president of the petitioning firm, Free & Equal Inc.

Houston Chronicle has this article, Supreme Court lets Green Party on ballot _ for now

Also at the Austin Statesman, Greens can put candidates on ballot for now, Supreme Court says

In his short ruling issued July 1, Judge Jerry Baxter stated, “The court finds, at this time, there is no actual controversy … and the ends of justice do not warrant a declaratory judgment.”

Norwood, who is attempting to gather some 23,000 signatures to qualify as an Independent on the ballot to run against Eaves for the Fulton County Commission chair post, filed suit last week after Eaves and his attorneys challenged “several thousand” of the signatures she has obtained.

My Fox Atlanta has a nice story with video about Mary Norwood’s continuing efforts to run for office in Georgia as an independent. Free & Equal Inc. is excited to be the national company working toward ballot access for Mary Norwood.

Norwood’s opponent in the race is current commission chair John Eaves and he contends that the forms Norwood is using to collect signatures aren’t legal.

Norwood is now asking a judge to rule on the matter.

It will take 22,000 signatures for the former mayoral candidate to make it onto the ballot as an Independent.
…
Norwood has paid $50,000 to hire a national company to collect signatures and she says she’s confident she’ll get the number she needs.

Here are two more good articles following Mary Norwood and her hard campaigning.

Atlanta Progressive News, “Eaves Questions 9,000 Norwood Signatures for Ballot Access”.

Norwood has hired Free and Equal, a petition signature-gathering firm,

Neighbor Newspapers, “Norwood halfway to November ballot”.

To obtain the balance of signatures she needs, Ms. Norwood said her campaign hired Raleigh, N.C.-based Free and Equal Inc., specializing in helping “independent candidates acquiring ballot access.”

“All of the people who filed objections to candidate petitions should immediately disclose to the voters of Illinois why they are holding up ballot access for these candidates,“ said Christina Tobin. “The private challenge system Illinois has is bad enough without the circus of objections that were filed yesterday. The voters deserve an explanation for these objections and more transparency from the challengers.“

“Numerous petition challenges through recent years have turned out to be frivolous wastes of scarce government resources. We intend to expose those challengers who are not playing fair,“ said Tobin. “Illinois saw pointless petition challenges during the last two races for state officers. They are about to see the same insanity happen again in 2010.“

In 2006, Green Party candidate for Governor Rich Whitney and the Greens’ statewide slate withstood a petition challenge that was found to be unwarranted. Gubernatorial candidate Cal Skinner and his Libertarian Party slate also made it on the ballot in 2002 after a senseless challenge.

According to the Illinois State Board of Elections website, there were 81 objections filed against independent and new party candidates during this filing period. Sharon Ann Meroni of Barrington Hills filed 32 objections, Rob Sherman of Buffalo Grove filed 13 objections, Andrew Heffernan of Stickney filed 11 objections, Thomas P. Dunaway and Ella White from Chicago filed 5 objections, and Phillip Hunt of Oak Park, Robert R. Slover of Peoria Heights, and Blake Phillip Sercye of Chicago each filed two objections. An additional 14 other objectors filed one challenge each.

“Independent and alternative party candidates should be held to the same standard as the established parties of simply 5,000 signatures, instead of the 25,000 Illinois state law requires of them,” said Tobin. “We are going to expose the challengers taking advantage of the discrimination inherent in our election laws.“

“With that many challenges filed this year, close to a million signatures, if not more, will have to be verified over the coming weeks and months, all at a significant cost to the taxpayers“, said Tobin. “The drain to government budgets could well reach into the millions.“

“These objectors are taking advantage of a flawed and unfair system,” said Tobin. “Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan used petition challenges to favor themselves politically. We know petition challenges are not immune to abuse. The objectors should come clean about their intentions immediately.”

“Green Party attorneys on Monday asked the Texas Supreme Court to reconsider the ruling in time for the party to make its July 2 deadline to submit its list of candidates to the secretary of state.”

Previously, the Wall Street Journal covered the Green Party of Texas battle with this article, “Texas Democrats See Red Over Green Party’s Ballot Coup”. Free & Equal Inc. got a mention.

Christina Tobin, president of Free and Equal…

Sincerely,

Christina Tobin

###

Mary Norwood Sues Current Fulton County Commission Chairman’s Campaign

Incumbent Attempting to Stop Norwood from Getting on the Ballot on a Technicality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Conference to be held today: 10:00 a.m. – 2900 Peachtree Road (The Peach Shopping Center)

Atlanta, GA, June 22, 2010. A lawsuit filed by Mary Norwood, candidate for Chairman of the Fulton County Commission, alleges incumbent Chairman John Eaves is attempting to block her name from the ballot for the November 2, 2010 election.

Running as an Independent candidate, Norwood must obtain signatures from five percent of Fulton County’s registered voters to be placed on the ballot. Back in May, Norwood’s campaign obtained written approval from the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections to pre-type in the word “Fulton” in the space provided for the signer’s county of residence.

Relying upon a hyper-technical interpretation of the law, John Eaves’s campaign claims that each signer must handwrite the word “Fulton” along with their address on the form. The Eaves campaign is being represented by former U.S. Representative George W. “Buddy” Darden (D-GA). This interpretation would void thousands of signatures already obtained by Mary Norwood and her supporters.

“I am more than surprised that our Fulton County Chairman would bring in big legal guns to challenge a petition form. This is a Fulton County form for a Fulton County election, approved by Fulton County’s Department of Registration and Elections,” stated Mary Norwood. “We believe that every single signature that we have gotten on our petition forms should count. To tell registered voters that their voice does not matter goes against our basic rights as Americans.”

In order to make certain that all of the signatures count toward ballot access for Mary Norwood, she is seeking an emergency ruling from the Fulton County Superior Court that the thousands of signatures she has already obtained on the approved nomination form remain valid. “This is further proof why residents of Fulton County deserve another choice for Commission Chairman this November. We need anyone who cares about ballot access or is a supporter of mine to come out and sign the petition,” said Norwood. “Let’s let the voters decide in November.”

Registered voters interested in signing Mary’s petition forms may call 404.949.9445 or go to her campaign’s website www.electmarynorwood.com for further information. Norwood’s campaign offices are located at 2900 Peachtree Road, NW, Atlanta GA 30305 and are open from 10am-7pm M-F, and 1pm – 5pm Sat and Sun.

Mary Norwood is conducting a Press Conference at 10 am, at The Peach Shopping Center, outside the Barnes & Noble Store, at 2900 Peachtree Road, NW, Atlanta, GA 30305.