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State News Release - October 24th, 2002 |
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Georgia Green Party |
| Georgia's Restrictive Ballot Access Regime Face Green Party Challenge on Constitutional Grounds. |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fulton Superior Court Judge Constance Russell will hear oral arguments on plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment in a challenge under the Georgia and U.S. Constitutions of the most restrictive ballot access regime in the nation and world. The one hour hearing is set for 3:00 pm, Friday, October 25th in Courtroom 5B. "I trust Judge Russell sees that our democracy is severely crippled and will forge ahead with this opportunity to begin to repair it by giving this limited relief to emerging party candidates and our supporters," said Kerrie Dickson, lead plaintiff in the case. "She can ensure that voters in future election cycles are offered more choices so Georgians might feel inspired to go to the polls and participate in the process." This complaint was brought during the 2000 election cycle by Ms. Dickson, when her petition to appear on the ballot as the Green Party nominee for State Representative in the 8th District was denied by Secretary of State Cathy Cox. Ms. Dickson and her campaign volunteers were threatened with arrest by county and state law enforcement officers a dozen times while circulating the mandated ballot access petitions in various public venues. Just days before the filing deadline, Ms. Dickson lost her campaign team to law enforcement intimidation when they were threatened with arrest at the July 4th Fireworks display at the Towns County Park in Hiawassee Georgia. Such intimidation has not been limited to Ms. Dickson's campaign, nor to the 2000 election cycle, either. Petitioners working for ballot access for other Party candidates, including for Ralph Nader's 2000 Presidential bid were also threatened with arrest in various other municipal and state parks across Georgia. In 2002, Party activist Mitch Lawson spent a night in the Floyd County Jail after refusing to stop collecting ballot access signatures at a public park in Rome Georgia during the July Fourth celebration. Many other Green Party activists also reported being dissuaded by threats of arrest during the 2002 campaign cycle and going back to the 1998 election cycle, as well. - - 30 - - |
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State News Release - October 24th, 2002 |
Home | Press | State Press |
