So, Fro, you’ve gone to all of this trouble to grab a domain and start writing about your campaign and all, and you’re not even on the ballot?
Yeah, that’s right.
Here’s how it goes. First step is to run down to the Knoxville Election Commission and pull a Candidate Qualifying Petition. You should probably have filled out the Appointment of Political Treasurer Form ahead of time and take it with you because you need to submit that as well. I did this on November 25, 2019. The people were super nice and helpful. They got me in and out of there really quickly. And when I walked out of their office I had the Candidate Qualifying Petition all filled out and ready to get signatures.
Signatures?
Yeah, signatures. It’s a petition, after all.
Turns out you need to get at least 25 signatures of registered voters from your district to sign your petition and turn it back in by noon (and not a minute later) on December 12, 2019. Even though only 25 signatures are required, they suggest you get 50-60 signatures. Seems the folks at the Election Commission are sticklers for all of the right info being included with these signatures and it’s not uncommon for something not to be included. And sometimes people will sign your petition and they’re not really in your district or a registered voter.
Well, Mr. Candidate (or so you say), how many signatures do you have so far?
Five. Five signatures. Not enough by a long shot, amirite? But, in my defense, this has been Thanksgiving weekend. And the weather hasn’t been super. Still, no excuses will be tolerated. I pledge to give regular (maybe even daily) updates, right here at this location, of my progress in getting the requisite number of petition signatures. You, dear reader, will be the first to know where I stand. Right after Susan, of course. I’m sure I’ll tell her first. And she’s going to be helping me get signatures, too, so there’s that.
Anyway, that’s it for today’s update. See you back here tomorrow.