Status

Led by chair Mike Saliba, the BTPMI is in a semi-functioning state at the moment. Their site is michigantea.wordpress.com. They have two Google Groups, one for Official Business and one for General Discussion. The Facebook group has 21 members including at least eight in the state of Michigan. The party is working on making its state committee fully operational and pursuing statewide party ballot access.

Candidate ballot access requirements

The state requires 38,024 signatures petition signatures to get on the ballot, including 15,000 which originate from each of the 15 congressional districts (1,000 signatures each), to run a slate of candidates.

Party ballot access requirements

1% of the vote for Secretary of State establishes statewide party access for the next election.

Strategy

The state chair must fill vacancies on the state committee, which needs a vice chair and five at large members at the moment.

The next priority is ballot access. Michigan's ballot access requirement is not practical to pursue without paid petitioners. The state will need to form a plan to raise funds for this.

The third priority is to raise membership in the party through low-cost advertising, marketing, and "an efficient media (public) relations apparatus."

Fourth is to field candidates for office at the local and perhaps state levels.

Fifth is holding physical bi-monthly meetings at a set location for the party.

What YOU can do

Join the groups on Facebook and Google. Contact Mike Saliba and let him know if you can serve on the state committee, assist in ballot access efforts, help promote the party, and/or run for office.