The Green Party of Texas has been facing Democratic Party lawyers and court challenges to their ballot access for statewide candidates in the November election and the Texas Supreme Court released a ruling July 2, 2010 that denied Democratic Party efforts to block Green Party candidates from participating in this election.
Christina Tobin, founder and chair of Free and Equal Elections Foundation, congratulates the Green Party of Texas on their win in the Texas Supreme Court to place their statewide candidates on the ballot.
Covering the battle between the Green Party of Texas and the Democratic Party over ballot access, The Wall Street Journal released three articles: “Texas Democrats See Red Over Green Party’s Ballot Coup,” published June 15; “Texas Green Party Appeals Ballot Decision“, published June 28; and the latest article, “Texas Green Party Gets Favorable Ruling,” published July 2.
“Texas has unfair ballot access laws for independent and alternative parties, like the Green Party of Texas,” Tobin said. “The Democratic Party is showing a pattern of anti-democratic behavior in Texas and across this country that all voters should be paying attention to. I know first-hand how Ralph Nader’s candidacies faced attacks from organized Democratic Party efforts paid for using corporate donations. It is a shame that the Texas Democrats are playing the same legal games.”
Free and Equal applauds Ralph Nader’s recent efforts to hold the Federal Election Commission (FEC) accountable for failing to do their jobs. Ralph Nader is suing the FEC in the U.S. District Court of Washington D.C. with Judge Henry H. Kennedy presiding.
“Once again, Ralph Nader is standing up against the powerful – in this case, the corporate-controlled Democratic Party leadership,” said David Cobb, 2004 Green Party presidential nominee. “Although Ralph and I do not agree on all matters, we both agree with the vast majority of Americans that more choices at the ballot box is a good thing.”
Ralph Nader’s 31 page complaint shows that the FEC did not properly investigate the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for their actions towards keeping Ralph Nader off many state ballots in 2004. Nader previously contended that the Democratic National Committee failed to report millions of dollars spent by the DNC in a coordinated effort to block Nader from getting on state ballots. Nader also questioned the DNC using the services of legal corporations without reporting those donations to the Democratic Party, a violation of federal campaign law.
“Ralph Nader’s struggles with the Democratic Party in getting on state ballots should be enlightening to everyone who believes in a free and equal democracy,” Tobin said. “The Democratic Party was not transparent with their efforts to kick Ralph Nader off ballots. The same thing should be feared with the Democratic Party efforts in Texas to remove the Green Party. Voters deserve choices on their ballots, not the legal obstruction and games the Democratic Party has been playing.”
