Comments on: Maine Supreme Court Removes Herb Hoffman from Ballot http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/07/28/maine-supreme-court-removes-herb-hoffman-from-ballot/ Sun, 12 Feb 2012 05:30:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=5976 By: Arthur Torrey http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/07/28/maine-supreme-court-removes-herb-hoffman-from-ballot/comment-page-1/#comment-448767 Arthur Torrey Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:58:51 +0000 http://www.ballot-access.org/?p=3735#comment-448767 Moral of story - Don't cut it so fine... I don't know how many raw sigs were turned in, but I'd doubt that there was anything close to the 50% margin I usually see suggested (and have had reccommended to me by Town Clerks when I've been running) If he'd had a bigger margin, A: The loss of a few signatures wouldn't have mattered, and B: He probably wouldn't have been challenged in the first place... It was only the few signatures that made him a vulnerable target - if he'd submitted say 5,000 valid sigs, then the opposition would probably have decided it would be a waste of effort to challenge... BTW, sort of problem can hit the "big guys" as well - here in Mass. we just had the "Party-annointed" US Senate candidate fail to make his primary ballot by something like 60 signatures... According to the FEC Jim Ogonowski spent something around $30K on "campaign consultants" and $2K on petitioning... He has shut down his campaign, and his former long-shot competition will be the R candidate against Kerry... IMHO this is a good thing for the LPMA, as it means more likely votes for OUR US Senate candidate (Robert Underwood), and improves our shot at getting the 3% plus needed to gain "Major Party" status... (Though that is a mixed blessing - ballot access is FAR worse in Mass. for a small "Major Party" than it is for a "Political Designation" - petition requirements go up, and the universe of eligible signers shrinks about 50%) ART LPMA Operations Facilitator Speaking for myself Moral of story – Don’t cut it so fine… I don’t know how many raw sigs were turned in, but I’d doubt that there was anything close to the 50% margin I usually see suggested (and have had reccommended to me by Town Clerks when I’ve been running) If he’d had a bigger margin, A: The loss of a few signatures wouldn’t have mattered, and B: He probably wouldn’t have been challenged in the first place…

It was only the few signatures that made him a vulnerable target – if he’d submitted say 5,000 valid sigs, then the opposition would probably have decided it would be a waste of effort to challenge…

BTW, sort of problem can hit the “big guys” as well – here in Mass. we just had the “Party-annointed” US Senate candidate fail to make his primary ballot by something like 60 signatures… According to the FEC Jim Ogonowski spent something around $30K on “campaign consultants” and $2K on petitioning… He has shut down his campaign, and his former long-shot competition will be the R candidate against Kerry… IMHO this is a good thing for the LPMA, as it means more likely votes for OUR US Senate candidate (Robert Underwood), and improves our shot at getting the 3% plus needed to gain “Major Party” status… (Though that is a mixed blessing – ballot access is FAR worse in Mass. for a small “Major Party” than it is for a “Political Designation” – petition requirements go up, and the universe of eligible signers shrinks about 50%)

ART
LPMA Operations Facilitator
Speaking for myself

]]> By: Glaivester http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/07/28/maine-supreme-court-removes-herb-hoffman-from-ballot/comment-page-1/#comment-448754 Glaivester Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:27:01 +0000 http://www.ballot-access.org/?p=3735#comment-448754 Well, I am donating to the GOP campaign in Maine then, just to spite the Democrats (the ones who brought suit). Herb Hoffman should start a write-in campaign. Well, I am donating to the GOP campaign in Maine then, just to spite the Democrats (the ones who brought suit).

Herb Hoffman should start a write-in campaign.

]]> By: Stine http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/07/28/maine-supreme-court-removes-herb-hoffman-from-ballot/comment-page-1/#comment-448676 Stine Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:42:07 +0000 http://www.ballot-access.org/?p=3735#comment-448676 All I can say is: American Democracy -- one more candidate than communism. All I can say is:

American Democracy — one more candidate than communism.

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