You must file a Certificate of Candidate Qualification [PDF] which declares you are a citizen of the U.S., that you are at least 18 years old, a resident of Virginia for at least a year, a registered voter in the district which you seek office, and not a convicted felon. View my ceritificate.

The main challenge to getting your name on the ballot is collecting signatures. For City Council you need the signatures of 125 citizens registered to vote in your district. This can sometimes be tricky because many people are not registered to vote or may not be registered at their current address. One big help in this respect is to purchase the list of registered voters from the State Board of Elections. The price varies depending on how many voters are in your district. I had to pay $39.00 for a list that contained 11,886 registered voters. From this list you can see how often a citizen voted in the last 3 years, their birthdate, name, and address. Using this list will help you target your signature collecting so you won't have to waste time and resources. Before you purchase the list of registered voters you must have filed your Certificate of Candidate Qualification [see above] with your local Registrar's Office.

When you submit your first petition(s) of signatures you must also submit a form entitled "Declaration of Candidacy" [PDF] which states which election and office you are seeking. You might as well also submit the form entitled "Statement of Organization" [PDF] which list financial information such as your campaign treasurer's name and campaign bank account information. I perfer to get an exemption from campaign reporting by filing an exemption, by doing so-- I only need to file a campaign expense report at the end of the campaign -- the downside to claiming an exemption is that a candidate can not solicit nor receive donations and the candidate may only spend $1000 of his/her own money. View my current expenditures.

Another important form which must be submitted is a Statement of Economic Interest [PDF] which seeks information about the candidate's employment, personal debts, securities, business interests and real estate interests.

Aside from the signatures of qualified voters [PDF] that is all that is required to become a candidate. Fill out a number of forms, collect your signatures by the stated deadline, and you are on your way to becoming a candidate for office. Feel free to your call your local Registrar's Office with any questions because they are there to help.

Best wishes for a good campaign, Silver Persinger