Kentucky Republicans Afraid of Democracy

[Guest Christina Tobin]

Kentucky Republicans are attempting to remove two candidates from the November ballot for the 3 rd Congressional District with a lawsuit filed on August 20, 2010. Ed Martin, candidate for the Libertarian Party, and Michael D. Hansen, independent candidate, were notified of the lawsuit this week. Hansen filed his required paperwork and petition signatures in March to run against incumbent Democrat John Yarmuth and Republican Todd Lally, and Martin filed in June. The lawsuit was filed by Cordell Lawrence as Vice Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party and David Caldwell. Caldwell has since removed himself as a plaintiff. A hearing for Ed Martin will take place at the Jefferson Circuit Court Division 5, located at 700 W. Jefferson St. in Louisville, Ky., on August 30 th at 10:45am, with Michael Hansen's hearing at 1:00pm.

 

In a response to the lawsuit, Libertarian candidate Ed Martin pointed out the vague nature of the Republican's court filing. "At this point, no cause of action or claim is stated in the complaint," Martin said. "I'm at a loss right now as to what their claim is."

 

Ken Moellman, Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Kentucky also responded to the attack on his party's candidate. "Apparently, Republicans are so insecure about their lack of a substantive platform that they are trying to steal half of the options the voters have."

 

Journalist Sheldon S. Shafer for the Courier-Journal in Louisville reported on the lawsuit along with WHAS-ABC Channel 11.

 

"Michael Hansen turned in his nominating papers in March and the Jefferson County Republicans are just now getting around to filing the lawsuit," said Christina Tobin, Chair and founder of Free and Equal Elections Foundation. "That is either complete incompetence or cruel calculation, neither of which should be tolerated in a respectable democracy. Cordell Lawrence should resign his position with the Jefferson County Republican Party immediately for this abuse against free and equal elections that is wasting court time and taxpayer dollars."

 

"This is exactly what Barack Obama and his 'Chicago Way' Democrats do to remove political competition from the ballot, and now Louisville Republicans are acting just like them," Tobin said. "If Republican Todd Lally is in any way connected to these attempts to take choices away from Kentucky voters, he is unfit to hold an office with power and should drop out of the race right now. This type of anti-democratic behavior is not acceptable in Kentucky or anywhere in the US."

 

Free and Equal Elections Foundation has started organizing at the grassroots in Kentucky to promote fair elections that will give all Kentucky voters the ballot choices they deserve. Free and Equal will sponsor a Freedom Rally and Candidate Forum Saturday, September 25th from 2-6 p.m. at the Kentucky State Capitol steps.

 

Ken Moellman will be a guest on the next Free and Equal radio show on Tuesday, August 31 from 10-11pm ET to talk about this situation. Candidates Ed Martin and Michael Hansen have also been invited as guests if their busy campaign schedules permit it. The Free and Equal radio show can be listened to live at BlogTalkRadio or at the Free and Equal website where it is also available for later enjoyment.