From our fellow Greens in St. Louis:

SHIFT IN GREEN PARTY PETITION STRATEGY

Dear Greens,

Last Saturday, May 20, we had an extremely productive workshop on MO Green 
Party petitioning strategy with Scott Mills of Missourian for Fair Elections. 
 What we came out with should be relevant to Greens all over Missouri and not 
just those of us in St. Louis.

As a result of the discussion, St. Louis Greens will be shifting the focus of 
petitioning.  We will be collecting signatures at the same places--but 
emphasizing some more and others less.  There will be two shifts:

1. First, we will be spending more time at Post Offices and Dept of Motor 
Vehicle (DMV) drivers license offices.

2. Second, we will be urging those who do not work weekdays Mon - Fri to 
petition during those days so others can focus on the weekends.

Scott strongly recommended POs and DMVs as locations with a steady stream of 
foot traffic where it is predictable that petitioners should average 15 to 25 
signatures per hour.  Most POs and many DMVs are open Saturday mornings.  The 
best weekday times are 11 am to 1 pm (lunch), and for POs, 8 - 9:30 am.  
Since we are having success getting people to be trained and go out Sat 
mornings, we should now get those who are available to collect during the 
week, especially during lunch hours.

We also discussed other potential locations for petitioning: theatres (only 
if there are long lines to buy tickets), book stores, and grocery stores.  
Progressive rallies and events could be outstanding (if lots of people 
attend) or less than productive (if only a handful come).  Petitioning 
neighbors, friends, and relatives may be good; but if it averages less than 
10 signatures per hour, the person may need to consider a different tactic.

We had a thorough discussion of festivals.  Scott felt that people would be 
less likely to sign when in very large crowds and that rates per hour would 
average less than POs and DMVs.  I pointed out exceptions, such as Earth Day 
and the University City Fair in the Square, when the event is either 
environmentally oriented or politically progressive.  We left it at thinking 
about each festival carefully and avoiding those that are alcohol-oriented or 
definitely non-political (i.e., dog shows).

Solidarity,

Don Fitz