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ADVOCATING JUSTICE • BUILDING COMMUNITY
Cincinnati Teacher Fights Being Shut Out of the Political Debate Dan La Botz, a Cincinnati elementary school teacher, who tried but was unable to enter last year's televised debates hosted by Ohio's big eight for-profit newspapers (the Ohio News Organization), has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Federal Elections Commission. MARK GRAUHUIS Contributing Writer
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a Botz, who ran as the Socialist Party candidate for US Senate in 2010, alleges that Ohio Newspaper Organization (ONO) and its corporate members had scheduled a series of televised debates between Portman and Fisher in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act. Acting on advice of its General Counsel, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) subsequently dismissed La Botz's administrative complaint on May 19, 2011. However, as La Botz's law team of Mark Brown of Capital Law School and Oliver B Hall of the Center for Competitive Democracy in Washington, D.C., argue: "The Commission’s dismissal of the Plaintiff’s administrative complaint is contrary to law, an abuse of discretion, and arbitrary and capricious". La Botz is now suing the FEC to force it to enforce the law. When there are no objective standards, the debate sponsors may well be in violation of federal election law, which bans corporate contributions to candidates for federal office. After the debates were over, ONO said it had applied its own criteria, inviting the two major party nominees based on their party affiliation and the fact that they were the “obvious frontrunners,” and without communicating what the standards were with the other ballotqualified candidates. Citing legal precedents such as Buchanan v. Federal Election Commission, La Botz said that Ohio has unconstitutionally excluded minor-party candidates for sixty-plus years from its ballots. “Republicans and Demo-
crats made an agreement with the largest broadcasters to provide free coverage, and this amounts to an illegal financial contribution.” If ever this country needed a third party candidate to break the stranglehold of the two-party system, now is the time. As disclosed in the Los Angeles Times just a few years ago, the majority of Americans support the rise of a third party (Green, Labor, Dan La Botz and other political third party candidates struggle to seize their democratic right to be heard in a system that has been hijacked by two parties and a lot of money. Photo: Courtesy of Dan La Botz etc.). But if a ballot-qualified candidate existed who stood status. Parties that have been on the seems childishly naïve for millions of with the American people, rather than ballot since the 2008 election will have Americans, real-deal populists and soselling them out for campaign contrito start over to gain ballot access that cialist once believed it was not naïve. butions, how would we hear them? they already held under a federal court In 1911, nine years before the NineThe landmark decision in the ruling. teenth Amendment to the Constitution Citizens United v. Federal Election The new restrictions set a petition guaranteed women the right to vote, Commission now allows a funding deadline of early February, instead Helen Keller, a supporter of the Socialsource other than ONO to pay for of November in the year before the ist Party of Eugene Debs, wrote: “Ours debates, and to invite ONO members election. This same deadline was held democracy is but a name. We vote? and majority party candidates to it. It unconstitutional in 1968 in Williams v What does that mean? It means that should not be the role of the Federal Rhodes by the U.S. Supreme Court. In we choose between Tweedledee and Election Commission to exclude other addition, third party candidates will be Tweedledum.” candidates from debates without good required to receive at least 5% of the It is a great shame that, at a time reason, or to categorically limit the de- vote during gubernatorial and presiwhen trust in the political class is at an bates to two major-party candidates. dential elections, an unrealistic –as all-time low, we have had the moIn a shocking but logical extension well as unconstitutional- threshold for mentous Wisconsin uprising, inspiring of the recent package of antidemosmaller parties without the ability to and giving hope to people across the cratic measures (e.g SB 138, HB 194, raise money, choose candidates, hold world, yet there was no major TV netHB 159), the GOP recently decreed primaries, or establish membership. work willing to cover its main debates, that, as of September 30, minor parAnita Rios, Green Party member and and there is no party for all those ties would lose any ballot access in Toledo City Council candidate, said, people who helped create a wave of Ohio, effectively banning any alterna“Whether the State chooses to outlaw direct democracy. In 1968 the length tive to the two ruling parties. Ohio us or not, we will continue to fight for of TV news sound bites during AmeriSecretary of State John Husted has what’s right. Our fights to end nuclear can presidential election campaigns made it clear that his interpretation power, protect workers' rights, and ran to an average of 42.3 seconds; by of the draconian Ohio House Bill 194 help minorities and women are too 1988, they had been slashed to only (the same law that restricts the right to important to let the Republicans and 9.8 seconds; by 1992, they were even vote for many Ohio voters, including Democrats stop us, just because they smaller, at 7.3 seconds, and they have the elderly, students, urban and poor are afraid of a little competition.” people) means that all minor parties While a government that is truly See La Botz, page 3 will lose their official statewide party of the people and by the people now
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