Spartanburg Herald-Journal supports ballot access for Eugene Platt as a Green

The editorial page of Spartanburg’s daily paper, the Herald-Journal, my hometown paper, and incidentally, my employer, is supporting Eugene Platt‘s ballot access fight to appear on the November ballot for State Representative in South Carolina’s 115th District.

The ACLU is currently suing the SC Electoral commission for denying Platt ballot access as the nominee of the Green Party when he subsequently entered and lost the Democratic primary. I’ve posted on this before and a list of references will follow the editorial.

Its good for Mr. Platt’s situation and the wider South Carolina media is taking an interest in his case, and that is good for ballot access in general

‘Sore loser’ law
A law that allows one

Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Opinions

Published: Monday, August 11, 2008 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, August 8, 2008 at 6:40 p.m.

Democratic Party voters shouldn’t be able to dictate who represents the Green Party on the ballot. That’s why South Carolina’s “sore loser” law should be struck down.

The law is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the state Election Commission on behalf of Eugene Platt. Platt ran for a state House seat from Charleston as a Democrat but lost the primary.

Now the Green Party wants Platt to represent it on the ballot, but state law won’t allow it. The “sore loser” law prohibits a candidate who loses a primary from appearing on the general election ballot as another party’s candidate.

The ACLU claims the law is unconstitutional, and it’s right.

The Democratic Party has a genuine interest in preserving the integrity of its nominating primaries. Democrats who have been
rejected from the primary shouldn’t continue to work against the party’s nominee.

But that interest is dwarfed by the right of other parties to nominate whoever they choose to represent them on the ballot. The law is being used to deprive the Green Party of its chosen candidate.

The worst aspect of the law is that the Green Party will lose its candidate because of the choice of Democratic voters in that party’s primary. In other words, the law allows Democratic Party voters to reject a Green Party candidate.

The “sore loser” law also obstructs South Carolina’s law allowing “fusion voting” – one person running as the candidate of two or more parties, appearing more than once on the ballot and combining his votes.

The lawsuit points out that, under the sore loser law, if a candidate planning to run under the banners of several parties runs in any primary, he runs the risk of not being able to appear on the ballot under any party – just because of the votes of the members of one party.

The “sore loser” law is an invention of the members of the two major parties. Its intention is to protect those parties and their monopoly on the political process. It makes sure that candidates rejected by one of these parties are out of the campaign.

The court should strike down the law. It narrows the political process. It is dedicated to the preservation of the current power structure, not the effective expression of the will of the people through elections.

This story appeared in print on page A6

URL for the original editorial is here.

ACLU page on the case: http://www.aclu.org/votingrights/access/36353res20080807.html

Green Party Watch reported on the story here.

The story was subsequently picked up by the Associated Press and printed in The State of Columbia, and the Herald Journal.

The Charleston Post & Courier published their own story by Yvonne Wenger.

The ACLU’s press release was picked up by the widely read liberal blog Commondreams.org, by the election law blog Votelaw.org, by the Independent Political Report, and of course by Ballot Access News.

Eugene Platt is an excellent candidate for the State House seat. He is elected local official serving on the James Island Public Service District Commission since 1993. He is a Charleston native who previously ran for the same State House seat in 2006, nearly upsetting the Republican incumbent.

Subsequent to the Democratic Primary, Mr. Platt announced that he was leaving the Democratic Party and was joining the Green Party as its Downstate Coordinator – making him effectively South Carolina’s first elected Green.

Eugent Platt fights to stay on SC ballot as a Green

UPDATE July 22, 2008: I clarified some reasons for respecting the earlier nominations of candidates seeking a second ballot line in a subsequent contest. I’ve amended to include the situation of Michael Cone, as well as that of Eugene Platt.

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South Carolina has its first elected Green. Eugene Platt is a member of the James Island Public Service District Commission and has been since 1993. He had been seeking the Democratic, Green and Working Families nominations for the SC State House District 115, and when he lost the low-turnout Democratic primary, Platt decided to continue as a Green into the general election. He had previously resigned his position in the Democratic Party and became Lowcountry coordinator for the Green Party.

SC state law allows electoral fusion, but according to this Ballot Access News post, it is prohibited under the following circumstances: under section 7-11-10 of SC state law if a candidate, seeks the nomination of and is nominated by one party then seeks the nomination of a second party, but loses the second nomination, the first nomination is invalidated and the candidate cannot appear on the November ballot under either party designation.

This is apparently a variation on the ‘sore-loser’ principle, which presumes to keep spurned primary nominees from seeking to punish their inter-party rivals by splitting a party’s vote in the general election. The different political parties represent more or less different ideologies; but still may have complementary interests. Electoral fusion permits a candidate to build a coalition of shared interest across part of the political spectrum. If the appeal to endorsement of a second party does not succeed, then the candidate still has a platform for political office. Except, apparently, in South Carolina, where the state electoral commission has interpreted section 7-11-10 to permit a party which rejects a coalition to negate the candidacy of another party.

Another situation, aside from Platt’s, where the SC state electoral commission’s interpretation would interfere with the political expression is in the U.S. Senatorial election. The South Carolina Working Families Party nominated Michael Cone to oppose Lindsey Graham in November. Cone was also seeking the Democratic nomination, which he lost to Bob Conely, by 1,049 votes out of the 147,287 cast. Conely is apparently a Republican and a former Horry County GOP Committeeman. Conely is a supporter of Ron Paul and has picked up support from some Southern separatists – two positions that don’t comport with those of many South Carolina Democrats. I do not know if the WFP intends to run a candidate on its own, but the party should, in order to give the tens of thousands of Democrats who voted for a registered Democrat in the Party’s primary a candidate representing their positions. By permitting the party that holds the later primary to veto the choice of the earlier party, the state electoral commission’s interpretation of the statute denies political expression to both Greens and Democrats.

Given that the political opinions of South Carolinians are much broader than the choices would suggest, section 7-11-10 shouldn’t be used to exclude failed primary candidates with real policy differences from competing in the general election. This is an argument for Cone to appear on the Working Families candidate and for Platt to appear as the Green in their respective contests.

Three local news stories have appeared on Platt’s challenge in the Charleston press. A ruling from the state Electoral Commission should be forthcoming in a week.

• Platt trying for spot on November ballot

By Robert Behre
The Post and Courier
Thursday, June 19, 2008

The State Election Commission will decide next week if state House District 115 candidate Eugene Platt may appear on the ballot this fall, but his odds appear dim.

Platt, who lost the June 10 Democratic primary to James Island lawyer Anne Peterson Hutto, hopes to run in November as a Green Party candidate.

Before he can run, he must clear two hurdles.

One, state law appears to prohibit candidates from running in a general or special election if they already have lost a primary race.

Two, Platt signed a pledge with the Democratic Party vowing that he wouldn’t run again this fall.

As far as the pledge goes, Platt said Wednesday, “That was probably one of the papers that was presented to me along with the others.

“Obviously I signed it not knowing the full ramifications, not anticipating a situation like this. The Green Party feels such a pledge would not be enforceable.”

Platt said he has resigned from the Democratic Party, and “I no longer consider myself as a Democrat.”

State law might prove an even greater obstacle. The Election Commission staff cited a section of law indicating that Platt may not appear on the ballot since he lost his primary race, but the commissioners will consider the request on June 27.

If Platt loses, then Hutto will face only incumbent Republican Rep. Wallace Scarborough on Nov. 4.

Green Party organizer Gregg Jocoy said the commission’s decision will set an important precedent, and he noted that Platt was nominated by the Green Party in May, a month before the Democratic primary.

“Our right to have our candidate on the ballot in November shouldn’t be subordinated by the Democratic Party’s decision who it wants on the ballot,” Jocoy said. “Eugene’s campaign is vital to the growth of the Green Party in the Lowcountry.”

Platt, who has run for state and federal legislative seats and lost several times, said he is weighing whether to seek re-election as a James Island Public Service District commissioner at the same time he runs for the state House seat.

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@ postandcourier.com.