On July 13, the Socialist Workers Party submitted 7,080 signatures to place its nominee for U.S. House on the ballot in New York’s special election set for September 13. No other group or independent candidate submitted a petition. The law requires 3,500 for independent candidates, or the nominees of unqualified parties, for U.S. House, and the law does not reduce this number when the petitioning period is short (as it almost always is, in special elections).
The SWP collected these signatures in only four days. The only other candidates on the ballot will be the Democrat and the Republican, unless the Green Party exercises its right to nominate someone without a petition (the Green Party is a qualified party in New York, so it has this option).
Amazing feat for a party bearing the “S” word in its label and without even a party website (there is a site for The Militant, the party paper, but not for SWP itself).
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http://www.themilitant.com/2011/7524/752450.html
From the Strunk POTUS lawsuit in The Militant:
“The motion filed on behalf of the SWP and Calero explains that regardless of whether he “would have been eligible to be President, SWP and its members are entitled to their choice of a nominee under the First and Fourteenth Amendments… . As the U.S. Constitution prevents courts from disregarding and undermining a political party’s decision to nominate a candidate, the Court cannot impose damages on Calero or SWP” for exercising these rights. Strunk is demanding $36 million in damages”
see also
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57787638/Plaintiff-s-Summary-of-Defendants-MTD-in-Strunk-v-NYS-BOE-et-al-NYS-Kings-Index-6500-2011-as-of-070611
and
SWP denies that it have eligible candidates on any state ballots — nationally.
Wow. O.o Congrats to the totalitarian workers party…I mean, the SWP for this amazing feat.
Still, 7079 of those signatures are a redundant waste.
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