Just one more example of why I'm an Independent Texan Supporting Kinky Friedman !

Strayhorn, Friedman claim signature success
As both candidates keep gathering names, one goes to court seeking faster verification.
By W. Gardner Selby
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Mindful of a political life-or-death deadline in 10 days, independent gubernatorial hopefuls Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman each claimed Monday to have more than enough voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot — though neither intends to stop hunting autographs.
Strayhorn, the state comptroller, touted her numbers first as lawyers for her campaign implored an Austin federal district judge to order the state to speed its verification of her petitions so she can maintain credibility, raise money and plan TV ads.
Attorney Buck Wood said 21 cardboard file boxes stacked in Judge Lee Yeakel's courtroom held petitions signed by 115,000 voters. He said an additional 25,000 to 30,000 signatures await verification by the campaign.
Strayhorn and Friedman, an author and musician, must each gather 45,540 signatures to make the ballot.
Friedman's campaign declined to air a number, although Friedman said he expects to make the ballot.
He called a news conference to respond to a comment Wood made to the judge as part of his argument that the state need not spend time checking for duplicate signatures. (Voters can sign only one petition per office sought.).
Wood, suggesting there would be few voters who signed petitions for both Strayhorn and Friedman, told Yeakel: "My client is not soliciting signatures in bars and dance halls."
Friedman, speaking on the patio of a bar on West Sixth Street, suggested that Strayhorn's team was devaluing voters based on where they hang out.
"Whether a signature comes from the country club or the homeless shelter, it should count exactly the same," he said.
Brad McClellan, Strayhorn's campaign manager, deferred to Wood, who stood by his characterization: "I'm not saying that's the only place" he's raising signatures. "The fact of the matter is they're appealing to distinct groups of voters. I wasn't trying to be critical of him."
The independent candidates have until 5 p.m. May 11 to turn in petitions. Signatures must be from registered voters who did not participate in this year's party primaries or runoffs. Both could turn in their petitions now, but the secretary of state will not accept additional signatures after petitions are filed.
Strayhorn and Friedman began collecting signatures immediately after the March 7 primaries. Strayhorn's campaign said it has spent at least $500,000 on printing petitions, building databases and hiring contractors for the petition effort; Friedman estimated spending $50,000 on a petition consultant and her assistant.
"It is costly, and it takes up a lot of time," McClellan said.
Friedman and Strayhorn hope to join Democrat Chris Bell and GOP Gov. Rick Perry in what could be an unusually crowded fall fray.
Strayhorn, who declared herself an independent challenger Jan. 2, sued Secretary of State Roger Williams in March over the petition signatures. Wood asked Yeakel to direct Williams to take a statistical sampling of Strayhorn's petitions, once they're submitted, to hasten her confirmation as a candidate.
State law allows for statistical sampling, and Wood noted that the office has used sampling in the past.
Williams, a Perry appointee, has said his office will not use sampling on the petitions submitted and instead will check each signature individually — an approach expected to take six weeks or longer.
Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the secretary of state, said Williams chose to verify every signature because it can be done faster and with greater ultimate accuracy than statistical sampling. It's also the only sure way to avoid duplications.
Yeakel said he'd act shortly.
"This is a case that needs a ruling very quickly," he said.
source: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/2strayhorn.html