Hi Jay Ashcroft,

I registered with the U.S. Federal Elections Commission as a Candidate for the U.S. Senate for Missouri in 2022. At that time, I noted that my Party affiliation was unknown. The date was February 6, 2021.

In past elections, I have registered as Republican, Democratic, and sometimes Independent. It really has been the candidate that I was interested in.

Currently, I am petitioning you and the State of Missouri for a redress of my grievances as a Candidate for U.S. Senate under MO statute 115.321. I don’t have a party. I am running as a non-partisan candidate with no affiliation. I am an independent candidate.

I have been collecting signatures since February 2021. I want you to know how challenging and rewarding this has been. I have personally talked with hundreds of our fellow citizens and learned what is important to us. I have also been quite careful with masking and taking precautions due to the unforeseen and lethal Covid-19 pandemic. As you may know, 18,200 Missourians have died of this disease as of yesterday.

I am not asking for relief due to Covid-19. But I do want you to know that this has severely impacted my petitioning activities. I have followed all public health guidelines, as I would not want to cause harm to anyone by my activities. Is there any possibility of distributing my petition digitally, or through the mail?

I have collected about 250 signatures so far. These have been personally witnessed by myself on the form I downloaded from your website. These have been attested and notarized on 8.5 x 14 inch paper.

I will continue to petition until the deadline of August 1, 2022.

The purpose of this letter is simple. I want to know that I am complying with all regulations in my run. I want to cross all the ‘T’s and dot all the ‘I’s. I am not a lawyer, so I ask your help.

Do I need to fill out any other forms? Do I need to send you a petition application? Are there any deadlines that I may be missing? Are there any fees that I need to pay?

I want to thank you for your guidance and ensuring a free and fair election.

Yours,

Nick Strauss
Running for U.S. Senate for Missouri in 2022
P.O. Box 7622
Manchester, Missouri 63006

Mr. Strauss:

Per the petition form set forth in Section 115.325.3, RSMo, the circulator is attesting that each signer “signed his or her name thereto in my presence” – our policy it that this means signatures must be ink-on-paper signatures, not digitally collected. This would require a change to the law in order to permit digital collection.

The deadline to submit petitions for independent candidacy is Monday, August 1, 2022. Since you will be filing a Declaration of Candidacy at the time you file, we recommend contacting our office to set up an appointment. There is no filing fee since you are submitting petitions, and any documents you will need to complete will be generated in the office.

Please feel free to contact our office with any other questions you may have.

Elections Division

Missouri Secretary of State