News :: Activism : Economy : Elections & Legislation : U.S. Government
After Collecting 30,000 signatures, PSL's La Riva/Puryear Presidential Campaign on the ballot in New York!
La Riva/Puryear campaign on the ballot in 10 states … with more states to come!
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On August 18, the Party for Socialism and Liberation
filed with the state’s Board of Elections in Albany. We met
all of the requirements to be on the ballot for the 2008
presidential elections, including submitting 30,000
signatures—twice the required number. We are proud to say
that millions of working-class people will be able to vote for a
socialist alternative in New York State.
PSL activists celebrate the collection of 30,000 signatures in
New York stateThe requirements to be listed on the ballot
include submitting 15,000 valid signatures of registered voters,
with at least 100 valid signatures in half of the state’s 29
congressional districts. These signatures could not be collected
prior to July 8, and were due on August 19.
The first phase of the Party for Socialism and Liberation
Presidential Campaign has been a great success. Through a
tremendous amount of hard work, we have succeeded in meeting the
requirements for ballot status in ten states and are in the process
of achieving status in two more.
Our biggest challenge was in New York State. For six weeks,
volunteers worked tireless in New York City’s five boroughs
and many upstate and Long Island counties to collect the needed
signatures and prepare the filing. The army of volunteers
sacrificed vacation time, days off, and time with their families to
make sure that a powerful voice of socialism and struggle would be
on the ballot in November in this key state.
Thousands of people across New York State were excited to hear
about a campaign that would speak out loud and strong against the
war, racism and police brutality. “For me, getting Gloria and
Eugene on the ballot was a great chance to talk to people in my
community in the Bronx about the need to fight back,” said
petitioner Frances Villar, a student and mother of two.
Leon Williams just graduated from high school in New York City and
had not participated in political work before. “My first day
petitioning, it seemed I would never get a signature,” he
recalled with a smile. “But it was enriching to have so many
conversations with people that may never have had a conversation
about such ‘taboo’ topics like
socialism.”
PSL on the ballot nationwide
We are very excited at the prospect of being able to reach millions
of people across the country with the Gloria La Riva/Eugene Puryear
campaign theme of “People Over Profits—End the War Now
—We Need Socialism!”
In this first-ever campaign by the PSL, our strategy has included
gaining ballot status in every major region of the country. We will
be on the ballot in New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont
in the Northeast; Florida, Arkansas and Louisiana in the South;
Iowa and Wisconsin in the Midwest; and Colorado, Utah and
Washington in the West.
Over the past few months, we have collected more than 45,000
petition signatures, recruited electors, held state conventions and
paid filing fees. Hundreds of volunteers are working around the
clock in cities and towns throughout the country.
Join our campaign of struggle
Our campaign will one of struggle. We will carry
forward the message that the key to bringing about real progressive
change is building a powerful people’s movement that stands
together with our sisters and brothers around the world who are
resisting imperialism and exploitation.
As capitalism sinks further into its deepest crisis since the Great
Depression, it is more important than ever that we explain that
there are really only two choices for the future: Continue with a
system based on maximizing profits regardless of destruction to
people or the planet, or create a new, sustainable system based on
meeting people’s needs - socialism.
How many cities, towns and campuses we can travel to, how many
people we can reach and bring into the struggle, in short, how
successful we can be with the precious few weeks we have until
election day, depends largely on you. There are many ways you can
help:
- Become a campaign
volunteer.
- Contact
us to help bring our campaign to your area or
organization.
-
Hold a house party for our candidates.
- Make a generous
contribution to the campaign. We can't move forward without
your help.