Not using volunteers to collect signatures to get on the ballot
Part of this newsletter is to share advice on what I find useful for a state legislative race.
As a caveat, none of this will be peer-reviewed, double-blind studies - merely anecdotes from my own experiences. But since I believe that there isn’t enough open discussion about the mechanics of this level of government, and because my experience as a first-time candidate with the time constraints of having a 4-year old is somewhat unique, I want to share what I can.
With that, here is my first real tactical decision of the campaign: I’m not using volunteers to collect signatures to get on the ballot.
And here’s why. Before I go into that, if you appreciate this kind of openness, please consider dotating to the campaign.
In Massachusetts, to appear on the ballot, you have to submit a certain number of signatures of registered voters from your district. For my race, I need 150 signatures of Democratic of Unenrolled (the technical term for independent) who live in the 34th Middlesex District. It has to be on a specific form given by the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office.
In fact, if you hear a candidate say they just “pulled papers,” it means they went to One Ashburton Place, went to a window on the 17th floor (if memory serves me right), and got a stack of them in a manila envelope.
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Using volunteers to collect signatures
The process of collecting signatures is a slog.
It doesn’t have the intellectual stimulation of writing a policy paper. It’s not as useful as fundraising call time - more on what that is in a future newsletter. And it’s not as fun as going to an event.
It’s one of those things that candidates tend to want to get over as quickly as possible.
That’s one reason why if you ever go to a town or city caucus, where the local members of the Democratic or Republican party meet to select delegates to the statewide conventions, you’ll see candidates or their representatives milling around the front. You can get a lot of signatures collected at once, so you can move on.
If you still need more signatures, one of the common things to do is to ask volunteers on your campaign to go around town and collect them. When I was at the Bow Market Book Fair in Union Square this weekend, I saw someone with a clipboard and an Ed Markey sticker getting some of the 10,000 he needs.
Not using volunteers
I decided against this route.
It is absolutely true that signature collecting can be a hassle. But it’s also an opportunity.
The most important element of a state rep campaign is doorknocking. Connecting with an individual voter, even if only for a few seconds, can be the difference of getting their vote or not. It proves that you’re real and gives the voter a chance to ask you a question.
As I’ll explain in a future newsletter, I think this might be a bit overstated.
Especially in a world where people can Google you the day of the election or follow you for months beforehand, that one brief interaction might not matter as much. But it’s still extremely valuable and I plan to knock as many doors as physically possible.
So when I learned how many signatures I needed to gather, I figured why not use that as an reason for doorknocking.
If I’m sitting at home and my doorbell rings and interrupts what I’m doing, it feels better to know I’m being bothered for a real reason, not just to be talked at. Helping someone get on the ballot is an active role in democracy.
I also believe that if you’re a first-time candidate, and you’re asking someone to put you up as a choice for the electorate, they deserve to meet you. Sure, that might not be possible for the US Senate, but with only 150 signatures needed, it’s possible. And if it’s possible, I think I owe it to the voters to give them that chance to evaluate me before signing.
Now, was that the absolutely most optimal use of my time? Should I have used volunteers to let me spend more time fundraising? Maybe.
Did it give me a chance to walk around my district on a lovely spring day and eat ice cream at Colleen’s in Medford? Yes.
