For Immediate Release:
Date: 4/12/05
Contact: Ken Krawchuk, Immediate Past Chair
Phone: 267-496-3332

THIRD PARTIES FORM NEW COALITION TO TESTIFY BEFORE GOVERNOR'S COMMISSION

The leaders of Pennsylvania's largest third parties announced today the formation of the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition. Members of the Coalition include the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, the Constitutional Party, the Ralph Nader Campaign, the Reform Party, and the America First Party, with other political parties expected to join. The goal of the Coalition is to work for reform of Pennsylvania's draconian ballot access laws to help encourage greater participation in the electoral process. Details about the Coalition can be found on their website at www.PaBallotAccess.org.

Members of the Coalition will be testifying before the Governor's Election Reform Task Force at 1:15 PM this Thursday, April 14th in Hearing Room #1 on the ground floor of the North Office Building in Harrisburg. The details of their testimony can be found on the web at www.PaBallotAccess.org/Presentation_Final.pdf.

"To get on the ballot, third party candidates and independents currently must collect more than twelve times as many signatures as the two old parties, and that number is poised to go even higher", explained David Jahn, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. "It can only hurt the electoral process when the voters' chosen candidates face such enormous hurdles to get their names on the ballot. It's long past time to bring fairness to Pennsylvania's antiquated ballot laws, and the formation of this historic coalition is the first step. Our next step will be to present our case to the Governor's Task Force this Thursday, and they've already demonstrated that they are more than willing to listen."

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.

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