For Immediate Release:
Date: 4/15/05
For more information contact:

Ken Krawchuk (Immediate Past Chair) at 267-496-3332
David Jahn (Chair) at 610-461-7755

BALLOT ACCESS COALITION PRESENTS CASE TO TASK FORCE, WINS STRAW VOTE

Members of the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition testified on Thursday before the Governor's Election Reform Task Force to explain how Pennsylvania's draconian ballot access laws hurt voter participation. The 13-member Task Force held a straw vote immediately after the presentation, voting 11 to 0 (with two abstentions) to recommend that "[t]he Code should be amended to provide greater access to the ballot for minor political parties and political bodies." A final vote on the recommendation will be held next Thursday, April 21, 2005 at 9 AM, where the Coalition expects a similar outcome.

"This straw vote is a great first step, and great news for the voters of Pennsylvania", said Ken Krawchuk, a Libertarian member of the Coalition and one of the presenters on Thursday. "When the members of the Task Force demonstrate that they understand and appreciate the plight of third parties - and without a single dissenting vote - it speaks volumes about the ultimate success of our overall mission of opening up Pennsylvania's ballot to all comers, regardless of political persuasion."

In addition to Krawchuk, presenters included the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party Chair David Jahn, Delaware County Green Party Co-chair Kevin Murphy, and Ralph Nader campaign representative John Murphy. There was much give and take during the half-hour presentation, some of it quite lively, over the need for ballot access reform. "Although some Task Force members appeared dubious at first", Krawchuk noted, "The overwhelming vote of confidence speaks for itself."

The members of the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition believe that the right of citizens to run for political office is supreme in a free society, as is their right to support and vote for the candidates of their choice. Toward that end, the mission of the Coalition is threefold:

1. To equalize the number of signatures required by any citizen to stand for election, regardless of political affiliation;
2. To define minor party status in terms of voter registrations (0.05%), also known as the "Delaware Model", rather than by current electoral formulas (2% of the winner's vote total) and;
3. To otherwise reform Pennsylvania's laws to make the ballot more equitable and accessible to all citizens. The goal of the PBAC is to implement these changes effective with the 2006 gubernatorial election.

More information about the PBAC can be found on the Web at www.PaBallotAccess.org.

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