Sometime during the first week in October, the Americans Elect web page updated the number of signatures that have been obtained on the group’s ballot access petitions so far this year. The new national total is 1,829,264. That contrasts with 1,755,557, the figure that had been posted on August 30.
Because Americans Elect submitted 1,621,627 signatures in California, a simple subtraction shows that Americans Elect has collected 207,637 signatures outside of California so far.
By mid-October of 1995, the Reform Party had only begun ballot access petitioning or registration activity in California, so Americans Elect is ahead of the Reform Party, for this point in the cycle. However, the Reform Party had the advantage that it would soon be recognized in Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Virginia, without having to petition, based on already-qualified state parties in those four states that were about to affiliate with the national Reform Party.
They also have their “leadership” listed at http://www.americanselect.org/who-we-are
Note the presence of Rothschild. Surprised? Not!
It’s no secret they sought out one of he least ethical and most fincially desperae petition companies to do their signature drive. Lies to get the signatures, and a secretive nomination process. They obviously think they have an appealing candidate that everyone will support. Why are they afraid to disclose their agenda?
#2, so far, every petition submitted by Americans Elect has been successful. That is a rare achievement for a group working in all the states. In 1996, the Reform Party was told by Maine and Arkansas and Ohio that its petitions lacked enough signatures. The party sued Arkansas and Maine. In Arkansas the party won a lawsuit saying the deadline was unconstitutional, which made it possible for the Reform Party to submit more signatures. In Maine, the state backed down and said there really were enough valid signatures. In Ohio, the Secretary of State worked out an arrangement by which he allowed the Reform Party another few months to get more signatures, if the Reform Party would agree that it only wanted to be on for President and nothing else. The fact that even the Reform Party had trouble with 3 of its early petitions tells me that the Americans Elect petitioning company is a very good company, so far anyway.
When you throw enough money at a problem….
And the beat goes on…and the beat goes on.
“The fact that even the Reform Party had trouble with 3 of its early petitions tells me that the Americans Elect petitioning company is a very good company, so far anyway.”
They haven’t been too good from the stand point of paying their petition circulators.
#6
I am a strong supporter of AE, but if this is true then this could bite AE on the ass in terms of unwanted negative press.
Have any of the folks posting on this blog who are being/have been/aware of the shortchanging of petition gatherer payments attempted to contact Eliot Ackerman or anyone at AE?
lol.
They are not going to care. Arno is on their board. They have a contract.
As long as Arno gets them on the ballot they are happy.
What do they care if Arno and middle managers keep 80% of the money and the people on the street getting the signatures get 20%?
I suspect AE would care about very bad press even if Arno is on the board.
Unless Arno kills someone or uses undocumented immigrants to gather signatures, this entire story will be a page 17, 3 inch article in a Saturday morning newspaper.
Well below the interest level of the American public.
I’m sure there are already undocumented immigrants gathering signatures. Few would know, and of those fewer still would care. There are undocumented immigrants who came over as little kids and grew up in the US for that matter.
^bribing