CORRECTION: GP.org
previously listed James Brooks and Gladys Lyde as Green Party
candidates for Brunswick, GA City Commission. Neither candidate
ran on the Green Party ticket. We apologize for the error.
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
Friday, November 4, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org
Anita D. Collins, Elaine Brown Campaign Manager, 912-262-9811
Challenges against Brown's residency were filed by two individuals
who admittedly don't know Brown or where she lived.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders condemned
a court decision upholding the removal of Elaine Brown from the ballot
and from voter rolls in the November 8 election for Mayor of
Brunswick, Georgia, and charged that Ms. Brown's disqualification by
challengers in an attempt to crush the right of Brunswick's African
American voters to vote for someone who represents their interests.
Many local Greens are encouraging Brunswick voters
to elect two other candidates on the ballot in Brunswick, Gladys Lyde
and James Brooks, who are running for City Commission seats.
"Republicans and their friends on court
benches have proven that they will stop at nothing to remove
competition and to fix elections," said Gwen Wages, co-chair of
the Green Party of the United States. "We saw it in the
presidential elections in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, and we see
it now in a local race in Brunswick."
The court dismissed Ms. Brown's challenge to a
decision by the Glynn County Board of Elections to remove her from the
ballot because it claimed she had not sufficiently established
residency in Brunswick a year before the election, even though she had
registered to vote in Brunswick more than a year before November 8,
based on false claims made by two challengers who admittedly didn't
know Ms. Brown or where she lived. One of the challengers against Ms.
Brown is a close friend of the current mayor, Brad Brown, a Lieutenant
Colonel in the Sons of Confederate Veterans; the challenger's wife is
a reenactor for same organization. Both challengers are supporters of
the Republican candidate and were represented by the same attorney.
"The message of the decision is that no
guarantee of the right to vote or to run for office exists for African
Americans," said Sundiata Tellem, co-chair of the Black Caucus of
the Green Party. Ms. Brown would have been the first African American
mayor of Brunswick, a majority African American city.
Greens called the ruling a blow to the citizens of
Brunswick, especially to those who signed Ms. Brown's petition to get
on the ballot, to the thousands of African American voters who planned
to vote for the first time because of the Brown campaign, and to their
right to a choice of candidates on the ballot. Ms. Brown is continuing
to appeal the Board's decision in the courts and on the streets.
"Elaine Brown is running against the forced
displacement of thousands of low-income African American residents of
Brunswick under Blueprint Brunswick, a monster development
scheme," said Jody Grage Haug, co-chair of the Green Party of the
United States. "Bryan Thompson, the CEO and president of
Blueprint Brunswick, is the Republican candidate in the mayoral race.
Thanks to the decision of the Elections Board and the court's
affirmation of the decision, this is now a stolen election."
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Elaine Brown for Mayor of Brunswick, Georgia
http://www.elainebrown.org
2802 Altama Avenue, Suite B, Brunswick, GA 31520
Telephone 912-262-9811
Facsimile 912-262-9813
Georgia Green Party http://www.greens.org/georgia
"Green Party Vows Support as Elaine Brown Fights
Disqualification"
Press release, October 19, 2005
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_10_19.shtml