FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2006
CONTACT: Rita Sklar, 501-374-2660
LITTLE ROCK - Today the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in federal district court in Little Rock, Arkansas on behalf of the Green Party, its supporters, and its candidates so that they can have the same access to the ballot as the two major parties, and voters can vote for the candidates of their choice, whether they belong to the two major parties or not.
This is the third time since 1996 that the issue of ballot access for “third parties” has been before a Federal District Court Judge George Howard, Jr. Today’s case addresses the disparity between the number of signatures required by third parties to have ballot access. and the number of signatures required of independent candidates not associated with a party; the number for third parties is greater. The ACLU contends that this disparity violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Green Party candidates and supporters. We are asking the court to 1) declare that section of Arkansas law unconstitutional and 2) compel the Secretary of State to recognize the Green Party of Arkansas.
“In a democracy there is nothing more important that the right of voters to vote for the political candidate of their choice, and the right of a candidate to have access to the ballot, and therefore the election process,” said ACLU of Arkansas executive director Rita Sklar. “There are more than two parties and two political views in this country; the people with minority views have a right to be heard, and the American people have the right to hear them and, if they so choose, support them. That’s what the First Amendment is all about.”
In order to present candidates on an Arkansas ballot, a political party must be officially recognized by the state; the Green Party is not currently recognized. In order to become recognized, a party must file a petition with the Secretary of State containing the signatures of qualified Arkansas voters equal in number to at least three percent of the total number of votes cast for the office of Governor or presidential electors, whichever is lower, at the last preceding election However, independent candidates seeking ballot access need only supply that number of signatures or 10,000, whichever is lower. In 2002, a total of 805,696 votes were cast for Arkansas Governor, three percent of which is 24,171. However, in a 1996 case involving the Reform Party of Arkansas, Judge Howard ruled that Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that a new political party be able to submit the same finite number of signatures to qualify as the number (10,000) required of independent candidates (Citizens to Establish a Reform Party, 1996).
Since that 1996 decision, the Arkansas legislature made some changes to the election laws, but none regarding the disparity in the number of required signatures. In 1999 the Attorney General offered an opinion saying the new statutory scheme was “presumed constitutional” absent a judicial ruling to the contrary -- even though the specific changes to the signature requirement were not made -- since the “combined effect” of election laws (including those changes made by the legislature) met the requirements of the judge’s ruling, thus making the change in signature number requirements unnecessary.
In a 2001 ACLU case, Green Party of Arkansas v. Priest, the federal court issued that additional ruling, and reaffirmed the unconstitutionality of the state’s disparity in the signature requirements for independent candidates and political parties. “The Green Party believes very strongly in the right of citizens to able to vote for the candidates of their choice,” said Green Party of Arkansas spokesperson Mark Swaney. “Clearly, if there are laws which produce excessive restrictions as to who can be on the ballot then citizens are unfairly limited in the choices available to them on Election Day. Freedom of political action is a fundamental principal of our free society. We are filing this case in federal court so that Arkansas voters will have more choices in the November election.”
In that case we addressed a separate ballot access issue for third parties, the lack of a provision for seeking party recognition in a special election. Judge Howard ruled in our favor. Despite the Attorney General’s 1999 statement that an additional ruling would determine the issue, the state has refused to amend its laws or policies to correct the signature requirements. In August, 2005, Attorney General Mike Beebe stated he is not prepared to enforce 10,000 signatures as the requirement for political party recognition since the state legislature has not opted to change the relevant state law.
On May 30, 2006, the Green Party of Arkansas submitted approximately 18,000 signatures to the Secretary of State in support of its New Political Party Petition -- more than 10,000 valid signatures, but clearly fewer than 24,171. The Secretary of State refused to accept the petition, claiming it lacked the requisite number of signatures.
“The petition itself shows that voters in this state want the opportunity to select Green Party candidates,” said Holly Dickson, staff attorney for the ACLU of Arkansas. “The right to choose who is elected belongs to the voters. The state’s refusal to accept the voters’ petition demonstrates a lack of respect for the court and its citizens’ rights.”
The ACLU of Arkansas and the ACLU Voting Rights Project in Atlanta, Georgia jointly filed the lawsuit.