Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms

August 10, 2002

There is light at the end of the tunnel for us now. The paperwork has been filed so Tom and I are now official write-in candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. We are adding an additional web page link which describes how people can write-in a vote for us this November. It is a complicated issue because there are some variations in how some counties collect write-in votes. Sixty-nine of our 88 counties operate on one system. That system utilizes the “privacy envelope” which holds the punch card ballot and leaves a space for write-in candidates. Voters are required to write-in the last name of the candidate AND the office the candidate is seeking. So to vote for us, a voter would have to write-in on the envelope “Whitman......Governor,” and then “Clark......Lt. Governor” for us to receive the vote. The remaining nineteen counties operate on four other systems for tabulating write-in votes. This complication makes our task all the more daunting. We are encouraging anyone who wants to cast their vote for us to ask their voter precinct workers for specific directions on how to cast write-in votes on election day. Tom and I recognize that we have no realistic shot at winning the election as write-ins, but we are hoping for some significant numbers of write-in votes. Though a write-in vote for us may seem a waste, it is most definitely not wasted. A vote for us translates into another voice which is calling out for a change in the system. A vote for us adds strength and credibility to our cause, building a better future for all Ohioans.

We owe a special thanks to the Secretary of State’s Office. They have been a huge assistance in helping us all along the way. We have asked lots of questions and even challenged them with a few questions no one had ever asked before. We are still learning volumes about the election process, particularly campaign finance. We filed our first campaign finance report on August 5th. It detailed our budget from the start of the campaign up until this point. We were slightly beyond our projected $500 budget, which required us to fill-out the long form for campaign finance reports. Our report was 27 pages, and it accounts for EVERY SINGLE PENNY! Many thanks to my wife, our treasurer, for all her efforts. I cannot even begin to comprehend the complexity of trying to account for millions of dollars. Taft is reporting in excess of $8 million on-hand while Hagan, fresh off his Independence Day bus tour across Ohio, is far from collecting his first million dollars.

In other news, Taft and the Republican gang are struggling with how to combat a proposed constitutional amendment which would require treatment for nonviolent drug offenders on their first two offenses, as opposed to the current possibility of incarceration, the threat used to force offenders into treatment programs. The amendment drive comes from The Ohio Campaign for New Drug Policies which is primarily sponsored by three wealthy entrepreneurs who have the same issue facing voters in several other states. The amendment is obviously a step toward the decriminalization of certain drugs. Our campaign supports any attempt to offer treatment to nonviolent drug offenders versus incarceration. This amendment may be a step in that direction, but it will likely lead to a series of other drug-related amendments which will face voters in the near future. It is about time our state government focuses on the substance abuse crisis facing many Ohioans. Efforts by the Republicans to stop the amendment from going to the voters appear to have failed. Some say that this is circumventing the legislative process, but others are quick to point out that similar legislation has floundered in the General Assembly because of Republican domination. It is clearly a one-party system here in Ohio, and I hope voters will seek to change that this November.

Finally, our congratulations go out to Natural Law Party candidates, John Eastman and Sadie Stewart for achieving ballot status this November. As third party candidates who survived the petition process, they are already “winners” in our book. I had an extended telephone conversation with Mr. Eastman expressing our support. Though he represents some competition this November, we recognize we are all on the same team in our efforts to make Ohio a better place. You can view his website at http://www.johneastman.org/.

Paid for by the Committee to elect Whitman and Clark.  

Treasurer, Lana Whitman, 3716 Co. Rd. 31 South, Bellefontaine, OH 43311