[hq2600] From Cynthia McKinney: One Small Step for the Republic, A Giant Leap for Voter Choice in Georgia?

[HQ]

Hello!  Some good news to report on the voter choice front!

The State of Georgia is technically in default in its own case on voter
choice, having no answer to the precedent-setting Tennessee decision just
ordering that the Green Party and the Constitution Party Presidential
candidates be placed on the ballot.  That Tennessee decision was affirmed
by the Appellate Court yesterday in its refusal to issue a stay which would
have, in effect, disallowed the placement of the Green and Constitution
Parties on the November 2012 Tennessee ballot.  In Georgia, the state Green
and Constitution Parties teamed up again, represented by Roseanne Barr's
campaign legal advisor, Mike Raffauf.  I call this "one small step for the
Republic and a possible giant leap for voter choice in Georgia!"

Here's the Ballot Access News write-up with the pdf of the actual order
embedded and below that is the Knox.com write-up:
Sixth Circuit Preserves Ballot Spot in Tennessee for Green Party and
Constitution Party
<http://www.ballot-access.org/2012/08/09/sixth-circuit-preserves-ballot-spot-in-tennessee-for-green-party-and-constitution-parties/>
August
9th, 2012

On August 9, the Sixth Circuit issued a 7-page
order<http://www.ballot-access.org/2012/Tennessee-Sixth-Stay.pdf>,
denying the request of Tennessee election officials to remove the Green
Party and the Constitution Party from the November 2012 ballot. However,
the Sixth Circuit did grant the state’s request for a stay of the U.S.
District Court order that said there must be a random procedure to give
each party an equal chance to get the top line on the ballot.

In February 2012, a U.S. District Court in Tennessee had struck down the
state’s ballot access law for newly-qualifying parties, and had also
ordered the state to print the two plaintiff parties on the 2012 ballot.
The U.S. District Court had also struck down the law, giving the two
largest parties the best spots on the ballot.

The Sixth Circuit has not decided any of these issues at this time.
Instead, the Court simply set forth what rules should be in place, pending
a decision. The order says, “The state has not shown why the plaintiffs’
past support – which, as noted by the district court, consists of nearly
20,000 votes for the Green Party and almost 10,000 signatures for the
Constitution Party – is so insubstantial as to create a real possibility of
frustrating the State’s democratic process.” The reference to the 10,000
signatures for the Constitution Party, and the 20,000 votes for the Green
Party, is to past elections, not anything related to this year’s election.
>From knoxnews.com:
 Green, Constitution parties allowed to be on November ballot in Tenn.

   - By Tom Humphrey <http://www.knoxnews.com/staff/tom-humphrey/>
   - Posted August 9, 2012 at 9 p.m.

NASHVILLE — A 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling Thursday assures
that Green Party candidates will have a place on Tennessee's November
general election ballot in several races — including Martin Pleasant of
Knoxville as the party's U.S. Senate nominee.

"That's wonderful," said Pleasant, 43, who now plans to take some time off
his job with the Knox County Engineering and Public Works Department for
campaigning.

State Election Coordinator Mark Goins said the court ruling came in
requests for an expedited ruling on two issues in a lawsuit brought by the
Green and Constitution parties challenging the state's ballot access.

Currently, Democrats and Republicans are listed by party affiliation but
others are listed as independents. A U.S. District Court judge in Nashville
ruled in February in the Green and Constitution parties' favor on some key
issues, but the state attorney general appealed.

In Thursday's decision, the court declared Green and Constitution party
candidates must be on the ballot and listed by party name, Goins said. But
the court ruled for the state in another issue up for "expedited" decision
— letting stand a present law requiring the "majority party," now
Republicans, be listed first on the ballot, followed by the "minority
party," the Democrats, with others following lower on the ballot.

The Nashville judge had ruled that the ballot order should be determined by
a random drawing.

Further hearings and rulings are expected later.

The Green Party of Tennessee nominated a slate of candidates at a
convention earlier this year, but their place on the ballot was not assured
until Thursday's decision. The decision also means that Kermit Steck of
Kingsport will be on the ballot as U.S. Senate nominee of the Constitution
Party, which did not qualify candidates in any other races.

Five Green Party congressional candidates will be on the ballot under the
ruling. They are Robert N. Smith of Greeneville in the 1st District, Norris
Dryer of Knoxville in the 2nd District; John Miglietta of Nashville in the
5th District; Patrick John Riley of Lancaster in the 6th District; and
Howard Switzer of Linden in the 7th District.

There are also five Green Party candidates for state House seats, including
two in Knoxville. Calvin Cassady will oppose Rep. Joe Armstrong,
D-Knoxville, in the 15th state House District, while Bryan Moneyhun will
face Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, in the 16th District. Both Armstrong and
Dunn would have no opposition to re-election without the Green nominees.
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Permissions]<http://license.icopyright.net/3.5413?icx_id=377501>©
2012, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.

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