State Green Party Press Release

Green Party Members Prepare for Hearing in Suit Against Champaign County Clerk.

Illinois Green Party
January 20, 2004

Contact:
Ken Urban, phone: 217-356-7987, e-mail: kenurban@kenurban.com
Dale Strough, phone 815-432-4921

Judge Thomas J. Difanis will hear arguments Wednesday, January 21 at 9 a.m. in the suit against Champaign County Clerk Mark Shelden by four members of the Prairie Green Party of East Central Illinois. The hearing is expected to be the only day arguments will be delivered.

Ken Urban, Al Weiss, John Paul Schmit, and Jennifer Walling sued Shelden for refusing to place their names as Illinois Green Party candidates on the ballot for the March 16 primary. All four plaintiffs submitted petitions on December 15 to run for Green Party precinct committeemen in Champaign County. Urban also submitted petitions to stand in the primary for Green candidate for Champaign County Board District 7.

County Clerk Shelden rejected the petitions, arguing that the Green Party is not established in the county. The plaintiffs' attorney, Dale Strough, has argued that Shelden's interpretation of the law is incorrect, and that Shelden overstepped his authority by unilaterally rejecting the petitions.

The candidates argue that the 2002 Congressional candidacy of Carl Estabrook established the party at the county level. The threshold for establishing a "new party" under state statute is 5%. Estabrook received just under 4% of the vote districtwide, but won 8.7% of the vote in Champaign County. Shelden argues that a congressional candidacy can not establish a party at the county level, but the Green Party disagrees.

"The election code makes no mention that the 5% threshold must be from the political subdivision for county level established party status," says Weiss. "Indeed, the code explicitly states that established party status in the county is based on the highest vote getter of the party in the county irrespective of the office sought."

The case has potential ramifications beyond Champaign County. Rich Whitney, Green Party candidate for State Representative in the 115th District in 2002, received about 6% of the vote districtwide and about 11% of the vote in Jackson County (Carbondale, Murphysboro.) Green Party candidates have already filed for precinct committeemen to form a central committee in the 115th, but look to forming a committee and slating candidates within Jackson County as well.

"Illinois law is about the most repressive in the country against third parties," says Walling. "This case is about guaranteeing our freedom of association and equal protection under the law."

The Prairie Greens are a local affiliate of the Illinois Green Party, an accredited state party of the Green Party of the United States. For more information on the Prairie Greens, visit http://www.prairiegreens.org.