Less than $14,000 spent on petition drive
The latest campaign finance filings show that freshman Del. Neil C. Parrott spent just under $14,000 on his successful drive to put the Maryland Dream Act on the 2012 ballot.
Parrott, a Washington County Republican, kicked off a signature gathering effort in mid-April with $4,800 of his own money. As cash trickled in, he paid himself back. The MDPetitions.com campaign reported a balance of $11,095, funds Parrott can use to fight any legal challenge.
"We ran a really clean tight campaign and used the money very effectively," Parrott said.
More than 130,000 Marylanders signed the petition, and as of this afternoon 104,728 signatures had been validated by the state board of elections. Local boards must finish counting next week
Money came mostly from donations of $50 or less, and the group received little direct financial support from other Maryland elected officials. Exceptions include Del. Kathy Afzali, a fellow freshman Republican, who contributed $300 from her campaign account. Del. Michael Hough, another freshman GOP, sent $150.
Unlike campaign finance forms for elected officials, the referendum filings are not submitted electronically.
The shoestring budget does not include a $15,000 in-kind donation from David Dan, a project manager with Hagerstown-based High Rock Studios. Dan used his computer programming skill to help create a sophisticated website where Marylanders who opposed to the law could download their own petition forms.
The web tool walks users though the multistep process of filling out and submitting a petition form. It also allows Marylanders to check their names against the voter registration database, reducing errors since names must match perfectly inorder to be valid.
Unlike campaign finance forms for elected officials, the referendum filings are not submitted electronically.
The shoestring budget does not include a $15,000 in-kind donation from David Dan, a project manager with Hagerstown-based High Rock Studios. Dan used his computer programming skill to help create a sophisticated website where Marylanders who opposed to the law could download their own petition forms.
The web tool walks users though the multistep process of filling out and submitting a petition form. It also allows Marylanders to check their names against the voter registration database, reducing errors since names must match perfectly inorder to be valid.
Comments
If only government was run this efficiently and frugally.
Posted by: Nicky7 | July 14, 2011 7:39 PM
If only the rest of our government was run this frugally and efficiently...
Posted by: Nicky7 | July 14, 2011 7:54 PM
Very good point, Nicky.
Perhaps the best way to do that would be to force all politicians to pay out of pocket for the first part of any project, and only get reimbursed if their efforts are successful, as was the case here.
Posted by: John J. Walters | July 15, 2011 11:06 AM
Nice to see a lot of hard work by our elected officials can allow a democratic out come over an edict by the govenor.
Posted by: charles henry | July 18, 2011 1:45 PM