With nine days to go in the petitioning effort, socialist workers and young socialists were just a few dozen signatures short of their original goal.

The bedrock of the campaign has been a consistent petitioning in the working-class districts of Houston. Hundreds of people have signed up at shopping centers on North Shepherd Drive, not far from the Pathfinder bookstore. One worker from Mexico who met campaign supporters came by the Pathfinder bookstore and bought several books and a subscription to Perspectiva Mundial.

More than 200 signatures were obtained from students at the University of Houston on Friday April 26. Many signed owing to their disgust with both the Democratic and Republican parties, while others expressed interest in one or another points of the campaign platform. An Asian-American student who initially decided not to sign the petition took a campaign flyer to read. When she saw the petitioners back on campus she enthusiastically signed and urged several of her friends to do the same.

"Look," she told two friends who were passing by, "Do you see what they say about Afghanistan and the treatment of the prisoners in Guantánamo! You should really sign this! I am glad to see others who think this way."

A number of students noted that tuition and fees are again increasing at the university. "Students here can barely finish school," a young person told one of the socialists. "It takes on the average seven years for students here to complete a Bachelor’s program because so many have to work and study at the same time." Another student added, "All this extra money will now go to build a research center for petrochemical studies--more free work for oil corporations."

Dutrow and other socialist workers joined an April 19 demonstration of more than 200 supporters of the Palestinian struggle. Most of the crowd were Palestinian youth now living in Houston and they welcomed Dutrow to the action.

Dozens signed the petitions and several people filled out subscription cards for the Militant and asked that supporters call them later in the week to arrange more discussions and finalize the sale.

As this kind of response from workers and young people in Houston has sped up the pace of the drive, campaign supporters have decided to increase the number of signatures that they will turn over to local election officials.

"Because of the undemocratic nature of Texas ballot laws," Dutrow explained to supporters, "we have decided to set a new goal of 1,800 to put the campaign in the strongest position possible to fight for our rightful spot on the ballot." The original goal set by petitioners was 1,500 signatures.

"While the law states that only 500 signatures are required," he continued, "election officials are able to exclude signatures for many reasons, including place of residence and lack of registration. While someone may have been born and raised in the district, they may still not have the right to vote in elections or sign petitions due to a felony conviction. There are tens of thousands of men and women in the Houston area who face these restrictions."  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home