Gathering Petitions

In Florida, you have the choice of paying a qualifying fee to have your name placed on the ballot, or to qualify by petition. For most local offices, it is cheapest and easiest to qualify by petition. For example, to qualify to run for school board in Leon County, you need to gather fewer than 400 petitions to appear on the ballot, although the Elections Supervisor's Office recommends you gather more in case some signatures don't qualify. As County Court Judge is a County-wide race, I need 1,712, and the Supervisor's office recommends turning in 2,140. If I don't qualify by petition, the qualifying fee is $4,680. So we're gathering petitions. If you're reading this and are registered to vote in Leon County, do e-mail us and we'll get a petition to you. We have to submit our petitions by April 11, 2006 at noon.