New’s Report for August, 2016
Constitution Party of Texas
Chairman, Daniel New

To Members and Friends:

First, a word about membership.  There is no party registration in Texas, as in many of the lesser States, so if a person says they are, they are, and they prove it to the State by participating in an official capacity with a party.  That binds them to that party for that year.  In other words, if you vote in the Democrat or Republican Party, you are considered by the State to be one of those for the rest of that year, and by law, you may not vote in the other party’s run-off elections, you may not hold office in another party, etc.
Here’s what we mean by “members”:

1. If you paid your dues and are current, you are a Paid Member.  (There are several categories of membership, but everything above BASIC is simply financial support.)
2. If you paid your dues in the past, but are not current, we still consider you a Member.  But you cannot vote for officers in your county chapter.
3. If you have never paid any dues, but you are familiar with, and agree with the Constitution Party, its platform, or its website, or its candidates, you may well consider yourself a member, and so do we.  But if you voted in another party’s primary, you are forbidden by law from voting in our conventions or holding office officially. 

So... when someone says, “How many members do you have,” we are truthful when say we don’t know.  We know how many Paid Members we have.  And that information is confidential, so don’t ask! (c:  (But I will assure you, it’s under a million.) 
2016 has been a year of reorganization and rebirth in Texas.  There are several factors, but suffice it to say, it’s been a gift to us as we watch Socialist Party B disintegrate before our very eyes.  We have new members joining and volunteering at a rate we have never seen before! 

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State Conference — Belton — August 13

If you missed this one, you missed a good one, by all accounts.  But we’ll soon have speeches posted on the website, as well as interviews with some of those who attended.  This includes keynote speaker Sheriff Richard Mack and presidential candidate Darrell Castle!

We have lapel pins  available now. We’ll ship them for $2 each with a $10 minimum order, because we pay shipping. 

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Your county may already have a Point of Contact, or a County Coordinator!  If you live in any of the following counties, we now have someone working there to get a chapter organized, and we encourage you to let us know if you’re willing to help them, or if you’ll work to organize in your county, now that we’re getting some traction!

• Anderson County (Palestine)
• Dallas County (Dallas)
• Fort Bend County (Richmond)
• Guadalupe/Comal (Seguin/New Braunfels
• Harris County (Houston)
• Kinney County (Bracketville)
• Montgomery County (Conroe)
• Orange County (Orange)
• Tarrant County (Fort Worth)
• Taylor County (Abilene)

Other counties are pending!  Want to volunteer?
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Do you want to help restore constitutional government in Texas and the USA?  There IS something you can do!  First, if you haven’t paid your dues, it would help us if you do that now.  Second, recruit a friend to join.  Put some literature in their hands.  Bring them to a meeting.  If each member will recruit ONE person in September, we will double the size of this party.  You can help make that happen.

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Ballot Access

Sheriff Richard Mack and Darrell Castle

The most common question we get is whether Darrell Castle will be on the ballot in November.  And the answers are “No,” and “Yes.”  No, he will not be on the printed ballot.  But we fully expect him to be “ballot qualified” as a write-in candidate. 
We have filed in a timely fashion with the Texas Secretary of State the requisite 38 names of registered voters willing to serve as Electors, should Darrell win the election.  Now, that’s a reasonable requirement by the State.  But the 44,000 names they require on a petition gain printed ballot access is not reasonable.  And once we have the money, you may expect a lawsuit on the subject against the State of Texas.  There are other parties who will share the burden of that cost, when the time comes.
Why bother, since a write-in candidate has no chance?  Simple.  It’s part of the process of building a party.  You see, “an election is an event.  Building a party is a process.”  We are about the process of building a party.

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What office will YOU seek next year?

Hard to imagine, but now is the time to start planning those local elections for school board or city council which will happen in the off years, and most of them are non-partisan.  
Please think about running for a local office.  Don’t worry if you don’t win, just run.  This is the way we blaze a rail for those who will come after us. 

You may donate or apply online at www.CPTexas.us, or send donations and applications for membership to:

Constitution Party of Texas
10845 County Road 497
Princeton TX 75407