Introducing: Pennsylvania BALLOT ACCESS COALITION

Pennyslvania BALLOT ACCESS COALITION
PO Box 309
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081
Voice: (610) 543-8427
Fax: (215) 572-9248
PBAC@PaBallotAccess.org
www.PaBallotAccess.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 12, 2005

For more information contact:
Ken Krawchuk at 267-496-3332 or John Murphy at 610-384-4460

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

Leaders of Pennsylvania's largest third parties announced 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 went before the Governor's Election Reform Task Force on April 14, 2005. The details of their testimony are 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.