Our party currently has affiliates in 12 states. I think we all would like for us to have affiliates in all 50 states by the 2010 election, and I think that it’s possible but only if we work towards it as a goal.

From what I see on the ballot access petitioning chart on Ballot Access News, there are 9 states that I would say have “easy” ballot access. My qualifications for easy is less than 1,000 signatures for whole state ballot access, a very small (like 25) candidate ballot access signature requirement or some type of party organizational requirement. Our party currently has affiliates in 4 of those 9 nine states. I think that we should focus on getting candidates to run in those states. We should also try to organize state parties in those 9 states that we don’t have affiliates.

I believe that if we run several active campaigns in those states along with write-in campaigns in states were ballot access is not possible that our party will experience a great deal of growth. This will help to ensure that our 2012 presidential candidate and other local candidates will have ballot access. Below is a listing of states with party affiliates and states that have considerably “easy” ballot access.

Alabama- Organized state party, 2010 party ballot access is 37,513 signatures which is far out of reach, write-in campaigns might be considered

California- Organized state party, 2010 party ballot access in 88,991 signatures which is very out unattainable for us right now, write-in campaigns might be considered

Colorado- Organized state party, ballot access is only 1,000 signatures which can be attained with relative ease, Colorado has a governor’s election in 2010 which presents an great chance for a BTP state-wide campaign

Delaware- No organized state party, state wide ballot access is only 310 signatures so it would be good if we could organize an affiliate there

Florida- Organized state party, state wide ballot access only requires for a slate of presidential elections to be provided, 2010 is when Florida has its next governors election providing another chance for a state-wide campaign

Hawaii- No organized state party, ballot access is only 663 for full party access or 25 per candidate, this is another place where it would b wise to consider building a state party, Hawaii also has a governor’s election in 2010

Indiana- Organized state party, ballot access is 32,742 per candidate and there is no full party access, this is far out of reach for our current resources, write-in campaigns might be best for Indiana

Kansas- Organized state party, 16,994 for party ballot access is not really within our current means, write-ins would also be the best option for Kansas

Louisiana- Organized state party, ballot access is 1,000 signatures for full party and $500 for a single candidate, this is one of the easier states

Michigan- Organized state party, one needs 38,024 signatures to gain full party ballot access in Michigan, this is another write-in state

Mississippi- No organized state party, there is only a organizational requirement for full party ballot access in Mississippi so it might be a good state to try to get on the ballot

Nevada- Organized state party, ballot access is 250 signatures for a full party which is pretty easy, Nevada has a governor’s election in 2010 also

Tennessee- No organized state party, while our presidential candidate was on the ballot last year and received over a 1,000 votes here we have no recognized state party in Tennessee, it would be good if we did though because ballot access is only 25 signatures per candidate and there’s a 2010 governors election, party ballot access is in court right now

New Mexico- Organized state party, party ballot access is 2,794 signatures which might be reachable if we try hard

North Carolina- Organized state party, party ballot access numbers are in court right now but single candidate access requires 69,734 which is way out of reach, write-in campaign are our best option here

Texas- Organized state party, its 43,991 signatures for party ballot access in Texas, once again out of reach for anything but write-ins

Vermont- No organized state party, while we don’t have a state party here but there is only an organizational requirement to get on the ballot so maybe we should try to organize one to run a 2010 candidate for governors

-Raymond Lady