You can help Lynne qualify for Clean Election Funding

Your efforts to collect Qualifying Contributions WILL make the difference

CLICK HERE to download a PDF of this document

CLICK HERE to make an on-line $5 Contribution
to support Lynne’s campaign

As a Maine Clean Elections candidate for State Senate, Lynne Williams has pledged not to accept campaign contributions from businesses, groups, associations, political action committees, party committees, labor unions or trade associations. All the money used to fund her campaign will come from individuals and from the Maine Clean Election Fund.

But in order to qualify for Clean Election funding, she must collect a minimum of 175 $5 Qualifying Contributions for the Maine Clean Election fund. Collecting and documenting all those $5 contributions is a big task. We need your help to get the job done.

Qualifying Contributions can be made only by registered Maine voters, but they don’t have to be a member of the Green Independent Party. Any registered Maine voter, Green, Republican, Democrat or unenrolled, may make a contribution to the Clean Election Fund on Lynne’s behalf.

However contributors must be registered to vote within State Senate District 28. The District includes Bar Harbor, Blue Hill, Brooklin, Brooksville, Central Hancock Twp.(T8 S.D.), Cranberry Isles, Deer Isle, Ellsworth, Frenchboro, Gouldsboro, Hancock, Lamoine, Mount Desert, Sedgwick, Sorrento, Southwest Harbor, Stonington, Sullivan, Surry, Swan’s Island, Tremont, Trenton and Winter Harbor in Hancock County, as well as Isle au Haut in Knox County.

The important thing is these contributions must be made NOW, we have only until April 21 to get this task done.

There are two ways to make a Qualifying Contribution to the Clean Election Fund
* On-line at the Maine Ethics Commission website using a Visa or MasterCard,
* Writing a check or money order made out to the Maine Clean Elections Fund. (Contributions can not be in cash)

The quickest and easiest way is online.

We encourage people to use the Ethics Commission website for several reasons.
* It automatically generates the documentation we must turn in to the Ethics Commission
* If the name and address of the contributor can be matched with the State’s on-line voter file, the campaign doesn’t have to have the town clerk verify that the contributor is a Maine voter.
* It’s greener, with less energy consumed in paperwork and document handling

To make a Qualifying Contribution on line.

* Point your web browser to http://bit.ly/me-ethics
* Click on the yellow button that says CONTRIBUTE.
* On the next page, fill in the address information. This is the information about WHERE YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE. As best you can fill this in exactly the same way as you are registered to vote. Do not use a PO Box, use your actual 9-1-1 street address. When you registered to vote, you may have had an RFD address. Those old addresses have been automatically changed to the 9-1-1 address system, so use that address. If you have a different billing address for your credit card you’ll fill that in later. Click Continue.
* Fill in you name as it appears on the voting list. Click Continue.
* The next page will list all the candidates running in your community. There will be check boxes next to those running as Clean Election candidates. Click the box next to where it says “Lynne Williams, Green Independent” The box to the right is pre-filled at $5.00, which is the minimum contribution you can make. Click the continue button. [We must have 175 contributions from 175 different Maine voters, so there is no advantage to the campaign if you give more than the $5, as this money goes to the state, not to the campaign. If you’d like to contribute more to the campaign, do so directly by going to the campaign website http://lynnewilliams2010.org/]
* On the next page confirm your contribution is $5 and is going on behalf of Lynne, then check the “I agree” button, then click “Continue to Payment”
* On the next page, fill in all your credit card information, including your billing address (even if it is the same as your voting address you must fill it in again)
* Click the submit Payment button.

To make a Qualifying Contribution by check or money order
Qualifying Contributions not made online MUST be made by signed personal (not business) check or by signed money order. In addition, the check or money order MUST be accompanied by a Qualifying Contribution Receipt and Acknowledgement form. Copies of this form are available from the Maine Ethics Commission or from the campaign. You can find the document online by going to the campaign website http://LynneWilliams2010.org and clicking on the Contribute Button. The direct link to the form is http://www.lynnewilliams2010.org/wp-content/uploads/QC_Lynne_SENATE.pdf. The printed forms supplied by the state have both blue and black ink. You may make a copy using black ink only. (If you are downloading the form and printing it yourself, we STRONGLY suggest you use a laser printer, or if you must use an inkjet printer make a laser-based photocopy of the form and use the photocopy to collect the names. Documents printed on inkjet printers can run if they get wet. If this happens the form may become damaged or unreadable.)

The procedure for contributing by check or money order is as follows:
1) Write the check or money order.
* Make the check or money order for $5 to Maine Clean Election Fund. Do not make it out to the campaign.
* If using a personal check, sign it the same way as your name appears printed on the check. (If the check is on a joint account, you may each make a contribution by making the check out for $10 and having BOTH account holders sign it. While this is allowed, it makes the bookkeeping more difficult. It is a better alternative to have each account holder make out and sign a check. Note that the check MUST be signed by the person claiming the contribution. One joint account holder cannot sign for the other account holder. The person who will be listed as having made the contribution MUST sign the check.)
* Date the check.
2) Fill out the Receipt and Acknowledgement form.
The top part of the form may already be filled out. If not, make sure that you:
* Fill in the candidate’s Name as Lynne Williams
* Check the box before the word SENATE and then write the number 28 on the line after DISTRICT.
* Fill in the town or city. This is the town or city where you are registered to vote.
On one of the numbered lines on the form, in the proper columns:
* Print the date
* Print the check or money order number
* Print your name AS IT APPEARS ON THE VOTING LIST
* Print your residence address AS IT APPEARS ON THE VOTING LIST
* Sign your name, signing the same name you printed in the previous column.
If you will be collecting additional contributions, and there will be other names on the form, follow the instructions below under Multiple Names on the Acknowledgement Form. But if yours is the only name that will appear on the acknowledgement form, follow these instructions. In the box at the lower right:
* Print your name
* Date the form
* Sign your name
* Fill in your residence address
* Fill in your mailing address if it’s different from your residence address
* Fill in your phone number.
It is not necessary for you to take the form to your municipal registrar, but it will be a help to the campaign if you can do that. If you don’t have time to so the campaign will handle that task once you return the form to the campaign.
Attach the check to the form and mail it to:
Williams Campaign Committee
13 Albert Meadow
Bar Harbor ME 04609

If you have Multiple Names on the Acknowledgement Form
You can help the campaign by collecting qualifying contribution checks and supervising the filling out of the Acknowledgement forms. Anyone can collect checks and circulate the forms. You do not need to be a resident of the town listed on the form. To collect contributions do the following:
* DO NOT TAKE CASH. If the contributor does not have a checking account, they may contribute with a money order. If they have a credit card you can direct them to the http://maine.gov/ethics web site where they can contribute electronically.
* Confirm that the contributor is a registered Maine voter. Contributions from people who aren’t registered Maine voters won’t count toward our total.
* Be sure they are using a personal check, or money order, not a business check. See additional instructions below about using money orders.
* Be sure the check or money order is made out to Maine Clean Election Fund, not to the campaign.
* Be sure the person making the contribution is the person signing the check or money order. All checks and money orders must be signed.
* Make sure they check or money order is dated.
You must manage the acknowledgement form process if you are going to help collect qualifying contributions. General guidelines for these forms are:
* Read the form in advance, so you are versed in its use and your legal responsibilities..
* Fill in the candidate’s Name as Lynne Williams
* Check the box before the word SENATE and then write the number 28 on the line after DISTRICT.
* Fill in the town or city. You must use a separate form for each city or town. DO NOT let people registered to vote in different towns sign on the same form.
* YOU MUST ACTUALLY WATCH THE PERSON SIGN THEIR NAME ON THE FORM. Do not get distracted, do not have multiple people signing multiple forms at the same time. Do not leave forms unattended. It is your responsibility to actually watch the person putting pen to paper on these forms.
* All names and addresses on the forms pertain to the voting list. People should print and sign their name the way it appears on the voting list. The address they use should be their resident street address, not a PO Box or RFD number. They must use their 9-1-1 address, even if they had an RFD address when they registered to vote. All RFD address have been converted to 9-1-1 street addresses on the voting lists.

When you are finished with the form, fill in the information in the gray box at the lower right of the form.
* Print your name
* Date the form
* Sign your name
* Fill in your residence address
* Fill in your mailing address if it’s different from your residence address
* Fill in your phone number.

It is not necessary for you to take the form to the municipal registrar, but it will be a help to the campaign if you can do that. But if you have forms from many different towns, it may be more efficient if you mail them all to the campaign. We likely will have additional forms from that town, so we can deliver them together. To return the forms to the campaign, attach the checks to the form and mail to:
Williams Campaign Committee
13 Albert Meadow
Bar Harbor ME 04609

As noted above, we cannot take a cash qualifying contribution. If someone wants to contribute but does not have a checking account, or is not able to contribute online using a credit card, they may use a money order. It’s best if they procure the money order themselves, but there may be times when that’s not an option. You can be ready for this by having a few money orders on hand. Do this as follows:
* Unless the campaign has provided you with money orders, go to the Post Office or a bank or credit union and purchase several money orders, each one made out for $5. These should be the type of money order that should be signed by the person spending the money order. You will have to pay for these up front, and likely will also pay a fee for each money order. The fee could run from 25 cents to a $1.50, depending on where you get them. Get a receipt for the money orders you purchase. This receipt should either itemize the cost of the money order and the fee, or at the very least show how many money orders you bought and the total you paid so the fee can be calculated. Make sure you save the receipt so the campaign can reimburse you (This is not an option, we must reimburse you. If you want to contribute the cost of the money orders to the campaign, you may do that separately by making a seed money contribution, but under the Clean Election guidelines we must report the cost of the money orders.)
* Do not fill out the money orders in advance, so that if you do not use them all you will be able to cash them in and get your money back.
* If someone wants to contribute with cash, sell them one of the money orders, by exchanging a money order for $5 in cash. DO NOT include the money order fee in this transaction. You are only exchanging the face value of the money order ($5). If you have paid for the money orders yourself, the $5 cash is yours to keep. If the campaign provided the money orders to you, you must return this money to the campaign.
* Have them make the money order out to Maine Clean Election Fund.
* Have them sign and date the money order. Even if there are no places on the money order for them to sign and date, have them do so any way somewhere on the face of the money order.
* Have them fill out the Acknowledgement form as explained above.

When you are ready to turn in the contributions, follow the instructions above as to how you should fill out the form.
Mail the forms, with attached checks and money orders
If you paid for the money orders yourself, include in the mailing a copy of the receipt for purchase of the money orders, showing how much you paid for the fees.
If the campaign supplied the money orders, include in the mailing a check for the equivalent amount of cash you collected, and return any unused money orders.
Mail everything to:
Williams Campaign Committee
13 Albert Meadow
Bare Harbor ME 04609

And remember, direct seed money contributions to the campaign are also welcome, but not needed. You can contribute up to $100. To contribute seed money go to http://www.lynnewilliams2010.org/contribute.