GREEN CANDIDATE WHITNEY ASKS: ARE DEMOCRATS AFRAID OF DEMOCRACY?

Whitney for Governor Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 5, 2006

Contact:  Jennifer Rose, Whitney for Governor, 618-528-VOTE, campaignmanager@whitneyforgov.org, www.whitneyforgov.org

As expected, an election-law attorney for the Democratic Party on Monday formally submitted a challenge to the State Board of elections seeking to invalidate the petitions placing the Green Party's state slate on the ballot for the November general election. Despite having the advantage of incumbency, a campaign fund stuffed with large corporate donations, and a well-oiled political machine, the Democrats apparently don't want to risk letting the voters have a chance to vote Green.

"More than 39,000 voters signed our petitions saying they wanted the Green Party on the ballot," said Whitney. "I think the Democratic Party machine's challenge shows disdain for the voters of Illinois and for the entire democratic process. What are the Democrats so afraid of?"

"The Democrats and Republicans have collaborated to give Illinois one of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation," Whitney said. Yet the Green Party managed to meet and even exceed those requirements. The Greens have already made a good faith effort to strike out plainly invalid signatures before submitting the petitions."

"But that's still not good enough for them. Now they want to use up taxpayer money going through thousands of signatures line by line in a probably futile effort to keep the Greens off the ballot," Whitney added. "The Democrats say they just want to make sure everyone plays by the rules, but they don't mention that the rules already are a stacked deck against third parties."

Whitney and the Green Party also cautioned the Democrats against the use of State workers "on the clock" for purposes of conducting the petition challenge.  Some evidence of such misuse was uncovered during the Democrats' challenge of Ralph Nader's petitions to get on the ballot in Illinois in the 2004 presidential election.

"I have to wonder," concluded Whitney, "if the Democrats could find 39,000 people in 90 days to sign a petition saying they really wanted Rod Blagojevich on the ballot."

                                             -end-