In 2017, Cheri Honkala was the Green Party’s candidate for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in Philadelphia’s District 197. Ann Garrison spoke to her about what happened.
Ann Garrison: Cheri, tell us about the state office race that you were told you had lost.
Cheri Honkala: it was a special election last year for a representative to the Pennsylvania State House. On the night of the election there were literally hundreds of calls to our campaign headquarters and the district attorney's office about election fraud. And I'm sorry to report that the same political machine that was responsible is alive and well today.
The court case brought by Democrats challenging the Green Party’s access to the 2018 election ballot in Montana will resume this Thursday under review of a new judge.
Democrats allege Montana’s Republican Secretary of State erred in certifying the Green Party for the ballot.
(HELENA, MT) – On Tuesday, Missoula's Quinten M. Rhoads will be in District Court in Helena, at 1:30pm, to represent the Montana Green Party (MTGP) and those who signed petitions to place the MTGP on the 2018 election ballot. Rhoads will face the international law firm of Perkins & Coie representing the Montana Democratic Party (MDP) with Peter Meloy of Helena. MTGP coordinator Dani Breck stated, "I did an internet search on the out-of-state firm, Perkins & Coie; for the Montana Dems to bring in this behemoth that has represented the DNC & HRC in attempt to silence Montanans' voices does not seem very 'democratic' or 'American' for that matter."
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders said today that Democrats and their supporters in the media have launched a Russia-baiting campaign to smear Dr. Jill Stein and the Green Party with baseless accusations and insinuations that the latter colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.
Greens said that the request from the Republican-dominated Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for documents from Dr. Stein is not proof of collusion or anything else and called such assumptions ("She was questioned by the Senate committee, therefore she must be guilty") an exercise in McCarthyism and political intimidation.
U.S. Representative Bob Brady, who has been the head of Philadelphia's Democratic Party for three decades, has been besieged this summer with allegations that he bribed a political opponent in 2012 to drop a would-be primary challenge against him.
But a swirl of corruption accusations around Brady is nothing new. In fact, an ongoing federal lawsuit pits Brady's party apparatus against plaintiffs asserting that there was election fraud in a special election to fill a seat in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives.
The Green Party of Pennsylvania applauds Friday's Federal Court ruling which has declared Pennsylvania's restrictive ballot access procedures as unconstitutional. The July 24, Order by US District Judge, Lawrence Stengel takes aim at the restrictive, two-tiered scheme of forcing a disproportionate number of voter signatures, compared to the requirement for major parties; and the threat or imposition of litigation costs and fees on candidates whose nominating petitions are challenged successfully. In cases where independent candidates prevail in a petition challenge, the legal costs can be as high as $50,000.00, Judge Stengel properly notes.
"The restrictions placed on third party candidates is equivalent to a modern day poll tax. Judge Stengel's decision has made it clear that limiting access to the ballot is an unacceptable infringement on the citizen's rights to self-determination and their ability to elect candidates that truly represent the citizen's views and desire for change," said Hillary Kane, Secretary, Green Party of Pennsylvania.
