-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded message follows ------- =============================== NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 Washington DC 20037 World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org =============================== For release: June 6, 2001 =============================== For additional information: George Getz, Press Secretary Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222 E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] =============================== Think Florida's black voters got it bad? Third-party voters face worse injustice WASHINGTON, DC -- A new report says many African-American voters in Florida were unfairly prevented from voting in last year's presidential election. But that's nothing compared to the massive, ongoing discrimination against third-party voters all across the USA, the Libertarian Party said today. "When it comes to civil rights, what was done to African-American voters in Florida may be an outrage," said the party's national director, Steve Dasbach. "But what is done to third party voters -- in election after election, in too many states -- is a civil wrong. "With all the outrage about what happened in Florida, we have to ask: Why is it wrong to discriminate against voters because of their color, but acceptable to discriminate against voters because of their political party?" This Friday, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will release the results of its investigation into voting irregularities in the hotly contested 2000 presidential race in Florida. After that election, numerous black voters complained they had been improperly purged from the voter rolls, harassed while trying to vote, forced to use unreliable voting machines, or confused by the state's "butterfly" ballot. The report, which has already been leaked to the media, says the state's voting system was marred by "injustice, inefficiency, or ineptitude," causing black voters to be 10 times as likely as whites to have their ballots rejected. But those charges -- as troubling as they are -- are mild compared to the voting injustice faced by third-party candidates, said Dasbach: Laws that prevent them from ever getting on the ballot. "Third-party supporters face the ultimate discrimination, since their candidates are blocked by law from getting on the ballot in many states," he said. "There is no greater civil rights violation than being prohibited by law from voting for the candidate of your choice." Some examples: * In Georgia, no third-party candidate has been able to qualify to run for the U.S. House in 37 years. * In Arkansas, no third party has been able to qualify candidates to run for state house or state senate since 1970. * In Florida, no third-party or independent candidate has been able to qualify to run for governor since 1920. And if you start a new political party and want to run a full slate of candidates for federal and state offices in all 50 states, you need over 3.5 million signatures to get on the ballot. By contrast, a new party in South Africa needs only 10,000. If Americans learn anything from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' report, said Dasbach, it's that voting discrimination is a real problem that must be solved. "Voting and running for office are fundamental rights, and the government should treat every American equally, regardless of race, creed, sex -- or political party," he said. "Yes, it's an outrage that African-American voters may have been prevented from having their votes counted in this one state, in this one election. But it's a greater outrage that millions of third-party voters have had their voices silenced, in many states, in election after election." ------- End of forwarded message ------- -- Best Wishes Vote: The only commodity that is peddleable without a license. -Mark Twain <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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