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Green Party ballot line upheld for West Virginia’s Mountain Party
“It’s taken more than half a year to get where we are today, but the fight was worth it. No political party should be denied access to ballot lines based on arbitrary rulings of civil servants or elected officials,” commented former West Virginia Mountain Party Chair Jesse Johnson.
Johnson who with Mountain Party Treasurer Frank Young led the fight for ballot status for the Green Party in their home state began the battle after the Mountain Party affiliated with the national organization.
“It’s far too common all across this country that states deny access to bone fide candidates that run for lesser known political parties thereby stunting and in some cases effectively eliminating growth among those parties,” continued Johnson. “It’s often our toughest battle to secure and keep these ballot lines. Our candidates have much to contribute and our country has even more to gain by having viable choices to the current reigning parties and it’s anti-democratic and unconstitutional to keep us off the ballot.”
Because of the perseverance of Johnson and Young, West Virginia 2008 general election ballot will bear the name of whomever the national Green Party selects for their presidential and vice presidential nominees at their national convention this July in Chicago.
Since his victory in the ballot access issue, Mr. Johnson has resigned from his post as West Virginia Mountain Party chair and is free now to pursue his prior intention to run for president of the United States for the Green Party.
Filed under: Ballot issues, election, elections, grassroots democracy, Green Party Websites, presidential race, Press Release, third party, US Politics Tagged: | third parties
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