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News :: Elections & Legislation |
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Prairie Greens Step Towards Filing Suit Against Champaign County Clerk |
Current rating: 0 |
by Ken Urban
Email: kenurban (nospam) kenurban.com (verified)
Phone: 217 356-7987 |
23 Dec 2003
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Four members of the Prairie Green Party of East Central Illinois are making preparations to file suit for ballot placement against the Champaign County Clerk. The clerk refused to accept the petitions to place the candidates on the ballot for the March 16 primary. |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Prairie Greens Step Towards Filing Suit Against Champaign County Clerk
Contact: Ken Urban, phone: 217-356-7987, e-mail: kenurban (at) kenurban.com
Four members of the Prairie Green Party of East Central Illinois are making preparations to file suit for ballot placement against the Champaign County Clerk. The clerk refused to accept the petitions to place the candidates on the ballot for the March 16 primary.
Ken Urban, Al Weiss, John Paul Schmit, and Jennifer Walling each 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 county board in District 7.
County Clerk Mark Shelden rejected the petitions, arguing that the Green Party is not established in Champaign County. The candidates counter that the 2002 Congressional candidacy of Carl Estabrook established the party at the county level. Estabrook earned 8.7% of the vote in Champaign County, far more than the established party threshold of 5%. The legal question revolves around whether a Congressional campaign can establish a party at the county level.
"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."
Established party status allows a political party to have precinct committeemen and a central committee in the relevant jurisdiction. The party is able to participate in the March primaries, and the central committee has the ability to slate candidates for offices within the jurisdiction, eliminating the "new party" requirement for extensive petition drives for ballot placement.
"Established party status provides far greater ballot access to candidates who wish to affiliate with that party," says Weiss. "By reducing the restrictions for ballot access, the Green Party would be able to more easily recruit candidates and spend its resources on elections rather than on merely gaining
access to the ballot. We believe such an outcome is desirable to provide more substantive debate on issues in local elections."
"Ballot restrictions against third parties in Illinois are notorious across the country, so we’re not surprised to come up against this," adds Walling. "In 2002, we demonstrated that we have significant support in Champaign County, and in 2004, we intend to build upon that."
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.
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