The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.35           October 13, 1997 
 
 
Socialist Workers Defend Election Rights  

BY JILL FEIN
Atlanta Ballot Victory
ATLANTA - "As Municipal Superintendent of the city of Atlanta, I hereby give notice that you have been "Qualified" as a candidate for mayor in the November 4, 1997 Municipal General Election," said a October 1 letter to Socialist Workers candidate Doug Nelson from Olivia Parks Woods. A week earlier, Woods had challenged Nelson's ballot status.

On September 9 Nelson filed forms with the city to be placed on the ballot. There is a $3,000 fee to get on the Atlanta ballot for mayor. To waive this a candidate can file for "pauper" status.

That is exactly what Nelson, a 22-year-old assembly worker and a member of the United Steelworkers of America whose pay averages $900 a month, did. This option was won as a result of the victories of the civil rights movement, which rolled back some of the laws that kept Blacks and other working people off the ballot.

In 1969 Linda Jenness ran for mayor of Atlanta on the SWP ticket. A lawsuit by the socialist campaign resulted in Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black ordering a waiver of the filing fee. As a result, Jenness and 36 others were able to get on the ballot for the municipal elections. Four of them actually won the election for the office they were running for.

On September 23 of this year, Nelson received a letter from Woods challenging his qualifications as a "pauper." A hearing was set for October 1 where he was instructed to "show cause why you should not be disqualified."

When hearing of this challenge, working people reacted with anger. David Bouffard wrote to Olivia Woods saying, "I am outraged at your attempt to keep Douglas Nelson of the Socialist Workers Party off the ballot for Mayor of Atlanta. The SWP has run candidates in state and municipal elections all over this country for over 50 years."

Upon hearing about this attack, radio host Heather Gray immediately scheduled Nelson on her one-hour show on WRFG for October 6. Teresa Nelson, executive director of the Georgia State ACLU, agreed to take part in a speak-out for ballot rights that will be held at the socialist campaign headquarters October 4.

Paul Cornish, a production worker at Wilen, and member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), met with Nelson and decided to help staff a campaign table at the Southeast UNITE conference scheduled for Atlanta October 4 -5. Cornish and others plan to collect signatures on a petition to demand Nelson's name remain on the November 4 ballot.

In the days leading up to the hearing, campaign supporters gathered signatures on this petition at several worksites in the area. Abby Tilsner, a member of the United Transportation Union, got several signatures from co-workers at the Norfolk Southern railroad. Three workers at Norfolk Southern's Industry Yard bought copies of the Militant from a campaign team there September 28, and one signed the petition. Two days earlier, seven Teamsters who work at UPS's Fulton- Industrial facility signed to support Nelson's right to be on the ballot, and six bought copies of the Militant.

Nelson spoke to reporters at a press conference just prior to the October 1 hearing, where he was represented by attorney John Sweet. Later that day he was interviewed on a Georgia Tech campus radio station.

"My campaign thanks all those who supported this fight," the Socialist Workers candidate said in a news release after getting confirmation of the decision, which he described as "a victory for all workers."

Ruled Off In Houston
BY BARBARA GRAHAM

HOUSTON - On September 26 the Socialist Workers candidate for mayor of Houston, Patti Iiyama, was informed by the City Secretary's office that her name was ruled off the ballot in the upcoming November municipal elections.

Rather than paying the $1,250 filing fee, as the majority of the big-business candidates did, Iiyama and her supporters fanned out to working-class neighborhoods and area campuses. More than 1,000 Houston residents signed petitions to place the socialist candidate's name on the ballot. City officials claim only 597 of those signatures are valid - 34 short of the 631 needed to meet the legal requirement. Another candidate who petitioned to get on the ballot, transit worker Laverne Crump-Smith, was also denied a place in the election on grounds that her petitions were not properly completed.

"This decision to exclude me is a political act," Iiyama said. "It denies a working-class candidate the basic right to be heard with equal access to the political process.

"My campaign supports Ms. Crump-Smith's right to be on the ballot," she added. "These acts denies the people of Houston the right to hear all points of view."

Noting that the debate over affirmative action is a serious issue in the campaign, Iiyama stated, "My campaign takes an unequivocal position in favor of defending and extending mandatory affirmative action programs in education and jobs - both in the public sector and private business."

Iiyama and her supporters are organizing a challenge to this exclusion, including holding an October 2 press conference on the steps of city hall to protest the exclusion.

"I call on all those who defend an open and democratic discussion during these municipal elections to demand that the mayor reverse this undemocratic ruling and place the name of Patti Iiyama on the ballot as a candidate for mayor in the 1997 mayoral race," the candidate said.

"And even if this attempt to win ballot status fails, I promise that I will continue my campaign and speak out in the interests of working people."

Seattle Disclosure Fight
BY ROBBIE SCHERR

SEATTLE - A battle over the right to privacy and freedom of association has opened up in Washington State.

On September 23 the Washington State Public Disclosure commission (PDC) voted to exempt the Socialist Workers 1997 Campaign from disclosing the names of its contributors and vendors. But the PDC's decision came on the heels of and ran counter to a September 10 ruling by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC), which denied the party's request for such an exemption.

The SEEC had granted the party's request in 1993.

In March 1997 the Federal Election Commission (FEC) extended the SWP election campaign exemption for six years.

The PDC decision to extend the party's long-standing exemption was a victory for democratic rights. The socialist campaign presented numerous incidents of harassment and intimidation by police, employers, and others of the SWP and its supporters that have occurred in recent years, as testimony to the need to protect the privacy of donors.

On Friday, September 26, the Seattle Times - the evening daily newspaper - joined the SEEC in it's offensive against democratic rights. The Times ran a lengthy lead editorial entitled, "Free and Fair elections require full disclosure."

The article describes the incidents cited in the SWP's written documentation to the SEEC as "trivial by modern campaign standards." It concedes that in the past minority parties, including the SWP have been targeted for disruption but argues "the mere fact of historical intimidation does not override a fundamental, present-day need for open government and open books."

The Times urges that "the PDC's hasty decision should be reconsidered."

An October 8 special meeting of the SEEC is slated to reconsider the SWP's request for an exemption. Supporters of privacy and freedom of association are gathering letters of support to present along with further evidence of disruption.

 
 
 
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