Friday, November 22, 2013

Hearing Set in Socialist Party Michigan Ballot Access Case

22 November 2013

By Richard Winger
Ballot Access News

"A U.S. District Court will hear Erard v Michigan Secretary of State on December 23. This is a case filed by the Michigan Socialist Party in 2012, arguing that the number of signatures required to get a party on the Michigan ballot is unconstitutional. The number of signatures needed for a new party is 1% of the last gubernatorial vote. But the number of votes needed for a party to remain on the ballot is a smaller number, 1% of the winning candidate for Secretary of State’s vote.

For the 2014 election, 32,261 signatures are needed. Yet in 2012, a party that was already on the ballot only needed 16,803 votes for any statewide race in order to remain on. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1968, in Williams v Rhodes, ruled that it is unconstitutional for a state to require more support for a new party to get on, than for an old party to stay on...."

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Saturday, November 16, 2013

Statement on Kshama Sawant’s Historic Victory in Seattle

16 November 2013

Statement by the Socialist Party USA National Action Committee 

The Socialist Party USA would like to congratulate Kshama Sawant and her campaign to win a seat on Seattle’s City Council. Challenging the two-party stranglehold on electoral politics as an openly socialist candidate requires tremendous courage and dedication. The fact that Kshama stands poised to claim victory is nothing short of astounding and should give us all inspiration as we ponder future progress in the electoral arena. Her message of human needs and environmental sanity has resonated with a public ready to fight corporate greed, and the Socialist Party USA recognizes the significance of what Kshama’s campaign has accomplished. Solidarity!


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

New hour-length Interview with twice former SPUSA Presidential Candidate David McReynolds

12 November 2013

A new hour-length interview with 1980 and 2000 SPUSA Presidential candidate David McReynolds aired on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network on November 12, 2013.

A an online video of the interview can be found on YouTube at this link.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Third parties deserve access to ballot

06 November 2013

By Craig S. Swartz
Columbus Dispatch

"The Ohio legislature, with apparently nothing better to do, passed a bill this week making it extremely hard for minor parties to be placed on the general-election ballot. And Gov. John Kasich signed it into law.

The bill effectively forces minor parties, such as the Greens, Libertarians, Constitutionalists and Socialists, to gather thousands of signatures on petitions next year just for initial party formation and ballot access. After that, the restrictions become even more onerous. Nothing, of course, is asked of the Democrats and Republicans, who for decades have enjoyed automatic ballot access...."

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A six-member, Republican-controlled conference committee said Tuesday it will go beyond the one issue flagged last week that temporarily derailed the fast-tracked Senate Bill 193 to reinsert tougher signature thresholds, weakened last week in the House.
Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2013/11/06/Bill-would-tighten-minor-parties-access-to-ballot.html#HIc13hmP3dI06dcf.99

Lawmakers are taking advantage of a delay created by a bill-drafting error to toughen requirements for Libertarian, Green, and other minor parties to get on Ohio’s ballot.
Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2013/11/06/Bill-would-tighten-minor-parties-access-to-ballot.html#HIc13hmP3dI06dcf.99

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Sister Diane Drufenbrock, one-time Socialist Party vice presidential candidate, has died

06 November 2013

By Jan Uebelherr
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Sister Diane Drufenbrock, a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis who ran on the Socialist Party's presidential ticket in 1980, died on Monday. She was 84.

The daughter of a plumber, Drufenbrock grew up in Evansville, Indiana, during the Great Depression.
'It was wrong, she knew, for some to work and for others not to work,' according to a 1980 candidate profile. 'It was wrong for a few to control most of the money and make decisions that affected the majority of people. It was wrong for many to go without, while a few hoarded and wasted.'

Drufenbrock's presidential nominee was David McReynolds, a New Yorker who headed the War Resisters League.

Drufenbrock moved to Milwaukee in 1948 and joined the School Sisters of St. Francis, becoming a math teacher. She taught at Alverno College from 1961 to 1974. At Alverno, she met Frank Zeidler, Milwaukee's last Socialist mayor and the Socialist Party candidate in 1976...."

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Ohio legislature passes new ballot-access rules for minor political parties

06 November 2013

By  Jeremy Pelzer
Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Under Senate Bill 193, passed by the House and Senate on Wednesday afternoon, third parties would each need to collect about 28,000 signatures, including at least 500 signatures each from at least half of Ohio's 16 congressional districts, to regain recognition as a party by the state....

Starting in 2015, activists would have to collect signatures equal to 1 percent of the last presidential or gubernatorial vote -- about 56,000 votes in the 2012 general election -- to win party recognition. To stay on the ballot, parties would have to garner 3 percent of the vote in a presidential or gubernatorial election.....

State Sen. Bill Seitz, the Cincinnati Republican sponsoring the bill, has said the measure is needed to enact new laws to govern minor parties after a 2006 court ruling found the state's previous standards to be unconstitutionally restrictive. Since then, the state has continued to recognize four minor parties: the Libertarians, the Greens, the Constitution Party, and the Socialist Party....."

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Kasich dodges ballot bill; Defends signature threshold for minor parties

01 November 2013

By Jim Provance
Toledo Blade

"A federal court in 2006 declared unconstitutional some of Ohio’s prior hurdles for minor-party labels to appear on the ballot. Compared to the invalidated law, getting onto Ohio’s ballot would be easier under the bill sponsored by state Sen. Bill Seitz (R., Cincinnati).

But the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, and Socialist parties now have spots on the 2014 ballot thanks to a directive issued by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted in the absence of an enforceable law. They would lose those automatic spots under Senate Bill 193...."

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A federal court in 2006 declared unconstitutional some of Ohio’s prior hurdles for minor-party labels to appear on the ballot. Compared to the invalidated law, getting onto Ohio’s ballot would be easier under the bill sponsored by state Sen. Bill Seitz (R., Cincinnati).
But the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, and Socialist parties now have spots on the 2014 ballot thanks to a directive issued by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted in the absence of an enforceable law. They would lose those automatic spots under Senate Bill 193.

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2013/11/01/Kasich-dodges-ballot-bill.html#B9JsbBs1ehvD04ef.99
A federal court in 2006 declared unconstitutional some of Ohio’s prior hurdles for minor-party labels to appear on the ballot. Compared to the invalidated law, getting onto Ohio’s ballot would be easier under the bill sponsored by state Sen. Bill Seitz (R., Cincinnati).
But the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, and Socialist parties now have spots on the 2014 ballot thanks to a directive issued by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted in the absence of an enforceable law. They would lose those automatic spots under Senate Bill 193.

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2013/11/01/Kasich-dodges-ballot-bill.html#B9JsbBs1ehvD04ef.99