A liberalizing ballot access bill passed the Texas
legislature unanimously this year, but on Friday,
Republican Governor Rick Perry vetoed it.  

Currently, anyone who circulates a petition to get a
new party on the ballot must swear under penalty of
perjury that he or she read this statement to everyone
approched:  "I know that the purpose of this petition
is to entitle the Libertarian (or whatever) Party to
have its nominees placed on the ballot in the general
election for state and county officers.  I have not
voted in a primary election or participated in a
convention of another party during this voting year,
and I understand that I become ineligible to do so by
signing this petition.  I understand that signing more
than one petition to entitle a party to have its
nominees placed on the general election ballot in the
same election is prohibited."

This takes 20 seconds to read, and is a major
impediment to successful petitioning.  The bill would
have deleted the law that says the circulator must
read this.  The Governor vetoed the bill, so 
circulators will now be burdened with this handicap. 
The petition needs 45,540 valid signatures.

Governor Rick Perry is only the 2nd Governor in the
past 50 years to veto liberalizing ballot access
bills.  The first was John Ashcroft, when he was
Governor of Missouri. He vetoed liberalizing ballot
access bills both in 1991 and 1992.  The Missouri
reform finally became law in 1993 after Ashcroft
wasn't Governor anymore.

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