The party started collecting petitions in 1995 for the 1996 election. It submitted 110,000 signatures in California with 35,000 coming from the county of San Diego. It spent up to $250,000 on signature gatherers, in addition to its volunteer efforts. Party officials said that 70% of the signatures came from students and the party qualified for the ballot in 1995. It submitted 55,000 signatures to qualify in Ohio, half of which were collected by volunteers. It made a serious effort to get on the ballot in all 50 states.