Green-Rainbow Party files complaint for being sidelined in Secretary Galvin PSAs

Created by eli_beckerman. Last modified on 2008-01-28 19:00:04

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 25, 2008

CONTACTS:

GRP Co-chairs Nat Fortune (413-665-6739) and Merelice (617-277-1757)

GRP Comm. Director Eli Beckerman, communications.director@green-rainbow.org

Green-Rainbow Party files complaint for being sidelined in Secretary Galvin PSAs

Today, the Green-Rainbow Party, the Massachusetts affiliate of the Green Party of the U.S., filed a complaint with the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office regarding unequal treatment in publicity generated by Secretary William Galvin for the upcoming February 5th presidential primary.

“Like the other Parties in the state, the Green-Rainbow Party had direct dealings with the Secretary's office to put presidential candidates on our ballot, and the Elections Division has accurately created those ballots,” explained Merelice, female co-chair of the Party. “Secretary Galvin can hardly claim he did not know about our presidential primary like those of the Democrats and Republicans.”

The Green-Rainbow Party, in its letter of January 24th to the Secretary, refers to a Public Service Announcement which features Secretary Galvin encouraging eligible voters to participate in the February 5th presidential primary and reminding unenrolled voters that they can now choose either a Republican or Democratic ballot without changing their independent status. In their complaint, the Green-Rainbow Party co-chairs point out that Galvin neglects to mention the availability of the Green-Rainbow ballot.

“We know that Secretary Galvin took an oath to dispense the duties of his office impartially,” said Nat Fortune, male co-chair of the Green-Rainbow Party. “We cannot believe he intended to misuse the power of his office, so we are asking for simple remedies that will correctly inform Massachusetts voters of all of their choices. We trust that the Secretary will agree and implement those remedies promptly before it is too late.”

The complaint also questions media coverage that has referred to information supplied by the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office but does not include mention of the Green-Rainbow ballot. The party asks for copies of announcements sent out by the Secretary's office. It then requests that the office send a corrective notice to the same list that received the original announcements, highlighting the Green-Rainbow's equal participation in the presidential primary.

“We have exciting and capable presidential candidates, and the voters of Massachusetts have an equal right to know about and vote for them. We expect a prompt response from Secretary Galvin's office. We all know the time is short,” concluded Merelice.

Green-Rainbow Party 1/24/08 letter to Secretary of the Commonwealth Galvin [MS Word]