OntheWilderSide

This section has information, ideas, and lists
to help you run for office.

Boards of Elections
Village, Library, and School Board elections are often run internally. Go to the place where you are considering running (administration office for School Board), and contact the clerk or administrator for information.

• Suffolk County Board of Elections
• Nassau County Board of Elections
• New York State Board of Elections

Associations for Local Boards

• New York State Association of Library Boards provides information on the job of Library Board Members online at http://www.nysalb.org Need to contact individual library to find out when the election is between March and June , requirements to get on ballot, and seats that are up.
• New York State School Boards Association provides information on the job of School Board Members online at http://www.nyssba.org
• New York State Conference on Mayors and Municipal Officials has a web-site at http://www.nycom.org . Though, it does not provide extensive information on the actual job of village elected officials.
• Suffolk County Village Officials Association includes downloadable directory of Village contact information and elected officials online at http://www.scvoa.com Need to contact individual Village to find out when the election is between March and June , requirements to get on ballot, and seats that are up.
• Nassau County Village Officials Association includes online listing of Village contact information and elected officials online at http://www.ncvoa.org. You need to contact your individual Village to find out when the election is between March and June , requirements to get on ballot, and seats that are up. Warren Tackenberg, Executive Director, 525 South 13th Street, New Hyde Park, NY 11040-5572, 516-437-1455 FAX 516-437-1456

Books

• Village Officials Handbooks is only sold to Village Officials at http://www.nysalb.org/handbook/index.html
• Library Trustees Handbook downloadable at http://www.nysalb.org/handbook/index.html
• Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate (A Progressive Guide to Action) by George Lakoff
• Politics the Wellstone Way: How to Elect Progressive Candidates and Win on Issues by Wellstone Action (Wellstone Action is Green-friendly, and they hold regular training sessions.)
• Fundraising in Times of Crisis by Kim Klein www.chardonpress.com Don’t let the title or its emphasis on nonprofit fool you, the heart of this book is fund-raising 101. www.grassrootsfundraising.org/
• GPUS Campaign Manual (PDF) is draw from several sources, and adjusted for Green campaigns.
• GPUS Get Out The Vote (GOTV) manual (PDF) is a good example of what it takes to get your voters to the polls. I would start with the above materials as an overview first.
• NYS BOE Campaign Finance Handbook

Samples

• Sample Independent Nominating Petition (PDF)
• Sample Petitioning Instructions (PDF)
• Sample Get Out the Vote Palmcard with Ballot Position PDF
• Sample Get Out The Vote Brochure PDF
• Sample Campaign Website
• Sample Campaign Video
• Sample Party Palmcard (PDF)
• Sample Party Trifold (PDF)
• Democracy for America Night School is an excellent synthesis of the ideas presented in Laskoff’s Don’t Think of an Elephant and Wellstone Action’s Politics the Wellstone Way

Forms

• Campaign Finance Filing Forms
• IRS Application for Employer ID Number to open campaign bank account
• Voter Registration Form from NYS BOE Website

Election Articles

• NYS BOE on Running for Office including sample petitions and political calendar
• Monkey-wrenching with Minnie the Cat by Kimberly Wilder, Boog City,, Issue 3: 2/25/02
• Run, Run for Your Life by Kimberly & Ian Wilder, Boog City, Issue 3: 2/25/02
• What to do with a Democratic Congress (speech & video) by Ian Wilder on the need for electoral and media reform, Huntington LIPC, 1/25/07, OpEd News 2/4/07
• Competitive Elections: A Challenge for Spitzer by Kimberly Wilder & Ian Wilder, OpEdNews 1/31/07
• Second Look at Third Parties: Correcting the Supreme Court’s Understanding of Elections by Dmitri Evseev, Boston University Law Review
• The Rise of Restrictive Ballot Access Laws and the Decline of Electoral Competition in the US, Death by a Thousand Signatures, by By Oliver Hall, Seattle University Law Review
• Campaigns tread carefully into world of Web 2.0 by Heather Havenstein, Computerworld.com, 2/12/07
• How to Write a Press Release, Pandecta Magazine
• How to Write a Press Release, WikiHow

Electoral Organizations

• League of Women Voters (LWV)
  
• LWV Vote 411: Election Information You Need
• Ballot Access News is the gold standard in Ballot Access information
• FairVote on how Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) can fix our electoral system
• Politics1 provides fair coverage of the whole political scene
• PR Watch investigates media propaganda and promotes media literacy
• Open Secrets tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy
• Third Party News is a source for American third party politics
• Third Party Watch covering America’s alternative political parties

County

• Suffolk County (Legislature Calendar)
• Nassau County (Legislature Calendar)

Towns

• Babylon
• Huntington
• Islip

School Districts

• Babylon
• North Babylon (calendar)
• West Babylon

Libraries

• Suffolk County Libraries
• North Babylon