[Northampton-GP] MEDIA RELEASE:Green Party of the United States;New Mexico assault on third parties

[Tim Carpenter]

> Subject: [gpoc_announce] MEDIA RELEASE:Green Party of the United
States;New Mexico assault on third parties
>
> THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
> 
> MEDIA RELEASE
> For immediate release:
> Wednesday, February 19, 2003
> 
> Contacts:
> Carol Miller, Green Party of New Mexico,
> 505-660-5988 (day), 505-689-2361 (evening),
> carolmiller at cybermesa.com
> Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576,
> nallen at acadia.net
> Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
> scottmclarty at yahoo.com
> 
> 
> THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW MEXICO CONSIDERS AN ASSAULT ON THIRD PARTIES
> 
> Greens and supporters of democracy across the
> U.S. express alarm and outrage at a bill that
> would raise the bar for official party status to
> 10%.
> 
> 
> WASHINGTON, DC -- Greens in New Mexico are
> joining with other third parties and democracy
> advocates in condemnation of a bill before the
> New Mexico legislature that would drastically
> raise the bar for political parties to achieve
> major party status.  
> 
> House Bill 628, introduced by Speaker of the
> House Ben Lujan, Democrat, would prohibit a party
> earning major party status through the 5% of
> votes cast in current law and increase the number
> of registered voters needed to qualify as a major
> party by 3000%.  Currently a party must register
> one-third of 1%; the proposed bill would increase
> that by thirty times to 10% of all registered
> voters or 95,172 registered voters.
> 
> "This is a slap in the face of tens of thousands
> of New Mexicans who demonstrate their interest in
> having more political choices by signing
> petitions to get candidates from small, growing
> parties on the ballot and then voting for these
> candidates on Election Day," said Lisa Houston,
> Co-Chair of the Green Party of New Mexico. 
> 
> "We expected an attack on grassroots democracy in
> New Mexico," said Joe Lacayo, Co-Chair of the
> Green Party of New Mexico.  "But this is even
> worse than we had anticipated.  The Democrat
> Party has half of the registered voters in New
> Mexico and access to millions of dollars every
> election and despite this they attack the Green
> Party and every gain we make."
> 
> Richard Winger, Editor of the non-partisan Ballot
> Access News, has written to Rep. Lujan, "Your
> H.B. 628 is far too harsh.  If your bill were the
> law in Utah, even the Democratic Party would not
> be a qualified major party in Utah.  Similarly,
> the Republican Party would not be qualified in
> the District of Columbia.  No party, other than
> the Democratic or Republican Parties, has held as
> much as 5% of the registration of any state since
> 1916.  Your bill is a prescription for a complete
> Democratic-Republican monopoly, which the US
> Supreme Court condemned in Williams v. Rhodes,
> 393 US 23 (1968)."
> 
> Politicians in New Mexico have a history of
> extreme attempts to suppress third parties. 
> During the 1970s and 1980s, Democratic Party
> officials planted drugs, conducted illegal
> searches, fired employees illegally, and violated
> the First Amendment rights of New Mexicans
> involved in organizing La Raza Unida, a new
> party.
> 
> "Fortunately, many of the Democrats who attacked
> us were caught and convicted," said Carol Miller,
> a New Mexico Green who served as party secretary
> for La Raza Unida before it disbanded in the
> early 1980s to work with Jesse Jackson's Rainbow
> Coalition.  "Our State Senator was convicted of
> perjury in the drug planting case and had to
> resign from the Senate.  But the state Supreme
> Court pardoned him so he could run and serve as
> Senator again."
> 
> "This new bill suggests that the Democrats are in
> revenge mode again, and will try anything to
> destroy the Greens," added Miller. "But we are
> united as a party to overcome any barrier, to
> continue to give the people of New Mexico the
> chance to vote for peace, nonviolence, social and
> economic justice."
> 
> 
> MORE INFORMATION
> 
> The Green Party of the United States
> http://www.gp.org
> National office: 1314 18th Street, NW
> Washington, DC 20036
> 202-296-7755, 866-41GREEN
> 
> The Green Party of New Mexico
> http://www.nmgp.org/
> 
> New Mexico House Bill 628
> http://www.legis.state.nm.us/session03.asp?chamber=H&type=++&number=628
>