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Constitution Party Kicked Off the Pennsylvania Ballot
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| Parent(s) |
News
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| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Aug 23, 2012 01:22pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | Randy LoBasso |
| News Date | Thursday, August 23, 2012 07:20:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | "On Tuesday, the Constitution Party—whose presidential ticket consists of former U.S. House member Virgil Goode and Lancaster, Pennsylvania attorney James Clymer—withdrew their petition to get on the ballot in Pennsylvania. The decision came after multiple warnings of the court costs by attorneys for the Republican Party, who have challenged the Constitution and Libertarian parties’ ballot petitions.
“The challenge represented a monolithic establishment party which is intent on denying people the opportunity to vote for anyone who might criticize it from a limited government, non-interventionist perspective,” notes vice-presidential candidate James Clymer to Philadelphia Weekly. “It used its almost limitless resources to take advantage of laws designed by Republicans and Democrats to make sure no other party has a place at the election table and court decisions that have supported raising the hurdles a third party has to jump over to get to a general election.”
The Constitution party had turned in about 35,000 signatures to Harrisburg on August 1st, plenty more than the 20,601 third parties are required to get on the ballot. In an act one Libertarian party member referred as “extortion” to PW, Republican Party lawyers had warned the Constitution and Libertarian Parties that their court costs could reach more than $100,000 if they lost signature challenge bids. (In Pennsylvania, candidates kicked off the ballot can be forced to pay their opponents’ legal fees.) That forced the Constitution party, who’s already paid about $50,000 in legal fees, to blink. The Libertarian party has not, yet.
“This means yet another voice in Pennsylvania is stilled,” said Bob Small, facilitator for the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition—a nonprofit that fights for third parties—upon receiving the news." |
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