That's Florida Elections Commission.
I was going to make this a Facebook/Twitter post, but it got too long.
Sorry for my absence. Been busy. I just received a letter from the Florida Elections Commission that they have been notified that we object to their intent to revoke the party that I chair. They will hold a meeting on November 13-14 to determine what they'll do regarding our objection.
The letter says they will "uphold the revocation imposed by the filing officer unless you present credible evidence (1) that the committee's aggregate reported financial activity during the 2012 calendar year was more than $500 or (2) that you were required to register the political committee under a provision unrelated to financial activity and that you are actively pursuing the activity for which the committee was required to register. Credible evidence is evidence that is from a credible source and is so natural, reasonable, and probable as to make it easy to believe."
I have no idea what (2) is saying. I have read it multiple times and do not understand it. I will take it up with my Division of Elections contact.
So in November they're going to decide what to do with the party. That's five months away.
Oddly, the letter only mentions the $500 of activity thing, nothing about the failure to obtain a CPA thing (which we'll still need for next year to avoid this again). So far, I think the state has expended more than $500 of activity just on this issue. This is a major waste of taxpayer dollars!
So, to avoid having to do this again next year, it would be helpful if people donated to the party so we could do a few things like get new website hosting, a new page, and other things. You can send money to the party via the following ways:
http://www.zazzle.com/floridapirates You can buy FLPP branded shirts, mugs, stickers, and skateboards.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1468033999 You can purchase a copy of No Safe Harbor, a book that the FLPP released in 2012. We plan on releasing a sequel soon.
https://secure.piryx.com/donate/ODDN9r4H/Florida-Pirate-Party/ Just donate directly.
I would like to thank all of you for your continued support. We're having a crazy time right now, but we will get through this.
Brad Hall
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DeleteUltimately what they are asking is this.
Delete1 - you reported greater than $500 worth of activity in 2012
2 - If the purpose of your political entity was not to make money, let's say it's purpose was to help veteran's find puppies, you need to show evidence that your political entity actually tried to help veteran's find puppies in 2012.
Evidence can be photos, news paper ads or articles or anything that is traceable showing that the Florida Pirate Party (or the specific name of the entity) and not a ghost shell of a committee (which those tend to launder money) and that this type of evidence cannot be fabricated in any way.
I am not a legal advisor or in any way have a legal degree, I just happen to know how to read legal crap like that.
I get that.
ReplyDeleteBut right now, we're an extremely small party with an extremely small number of members. While it would be nice if every member could donate a few dollars, I know this is not possible.
In order to be able to get more members, we have to get our name out there, in order to get our name out there, we need more members. In order to get more members, we have to get our name out there. More often than not, this involves running people for offices and advertising, and all sorts of other things that involve money.
Your example non-profit, in order to help people eat, it has to have money to buy the food in the first place. Then find the people that want to eat it.
Also, this isn't the IRS we're having a problem with. Near as I can tell, we're good with them, though, they were going after right leaning groups, and we're a left leaning group, so maybe we're in for a big audit coming up...
~_~