STRAYHORN TAKES SECRETARY OF STATE TO FEDERAL COURT

Lawsuit says Williams plan to take two months to verify petitions is unreasonable hindrance of campaign

Independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn filed suit in federal district court on Friday, asking for a speeded-up process to verify the signatures she is collecting to earn a place on the November ballot.

According to her lawsuit, Strayhorn said that Secretary of State Roger Williams’ decision to wait for the receipt of all of her signatures and then manually review them after May 11 will harm her ability to campaign effectively for governor.

Strayhorn, the state’s comptroller, and humorist Kinky Friedman are both in the process of collecting more than 45,000 signatures to get on the ballot as independent candidates for governor. They each have until May 11 to gather signatures. Williams has said in the past that it will take two months or more to verify the signatures and certify the candidates’ places on the ballot.

The lawsuit posits that Strayhorn is "effectively hindered" by Williams’ decision to hand verify each signature. While she waits for her signatures to be verified, Strayhorn "will not be able to raise campaign funds as effectively as possible, will be hampered in invitations to candidate forums, and will for all practical purposes not be considered a candidate on the ballot."

In addition, "Until the Plaintiff voters know whether they actually have a candidate, any attempts at organizing, fundraising or other types of political advocacy will be unnecessarily difficult."

Besides Strayhorn, the suit listed three additional voter-plaintiffs including former Texas Medical Association legislative director Kim Ross.