Green party files lawsuit

ANCHORAGE -- The Green Party of Alaska filed suit Tuesday, in hopes of making it easier for outside-the-mainstream political parties to be recognized.

The suit challenges the Alaska statute that requires political parties to attain three percent of the vote in a governor's race in order to be recognized by the state. Filed in Anchorage Superior Court, it requests that the 3 percent bar be set for all statewide races, not just the governor's race.

In the last election, Green candidates got more than 7 percent of the votes in the U.S. Senate race and more than six percent of the votes in the U.S. House race, but just over 1 1/4 percent in the governor's race. The lawsuit argues that any statewide race should count for the 3 percent total.

"It's too arbitrary to just say only the governor's race qualifies," said party co-chair and perennial candidate Jim Sykes Tuesday. "Our constitution says we're supposed to be able to access our democracy freely. In our view, they've drawn it a little too narrowly in saying only the governor's race counts."

In the 1998 statewide election, Sykes said, more people voted for members of the U.S. House and Senate than voted in the governor's race. It's the same set of voters casting their ballots, he said, so any statewide race should count.

Alaska Greens aren't the only party facing decertification. According to information from the Division of Elections, three of Alaska's six recognized political parties have been decertified -- the Green, Alaska Libertarian and Republican Moderate parties. That leaves three parties who currently qualify for ballot races -- Republican, Democrat and Alaskan Independence parties.

Sykes said the Greens considered asking the other decertified parties to join the suit but decided to go it alone because they felt their case would be stronger based on their own numbers.

"We thought that our situation was very clear, very straightforward," Sykes said. "We thought it was probably the best way to go because we have a better chance of winning."

Both Ray Metcalfe, chair of the Republican Moderate Party, and Scott Kohlhaas, chair of the Alaska Libertarian party, said they supported the intent of the suit.

There are two ways a political party can remain certified in Alaska. Perhaps the easiest way is to run a candidate in the governor's race and obtain at least 3 percent of the vote. Parties have another option, however -- to register as party members 3 percent of Alaska voters. The number of Alaska voters that qualifies is derived from the total number of Alaskans who voted in the most recent gubernatorial race.

For most parties, the registration process is ongoing. It's dictated to some extent by the controversy in a particular governor's race. In 1998, for example, the Green Party squeaked under the party-member registration wire with fewer than 20 votes to spare, but the election that year was relatively quiet. It was former Governor Tony Knowles' re-election bid, and voter turnout was down, so fewer registered voters were needed to make up three percent. During last year's hotly contested governor's race, more people voted and the Green Party's 4,800-member rolls fell short -- by about 2,000 members. Sykes said party officials are trying to turn that around.

"We are doing a registration drive," Sykes said. "We're pursuing all avenues, because we believe access is important."

Sykes acknowledged that the low vote count for Green candidates Diane Benson and Della Coburn as the gubernatorial team could be attributed to a late-coming switch in candidates. Erica "Desa" Jacobsson, citing family matters, stepped down as the Green Party governor candidate three days after the statewide primary election. Although Jacobsson's lieutenant governor candidate Diane Benson stepped into the lead role, found a new running mate and worked hard during the final months of the campaign, Sykes said, the votes weren't able to be recovered.

"I believe if we had one candidate campaigning all the way, we'd certainly have made that 3 percent," Sykes said.

Whether the party had been able to retain its status or not, Sykes said the law needs to be changed to make sense. Nevada, he said, has a similar t3-percent rule for parties seeking to obtain status through votes in a governor's race, but its registration requirement is 1 percent.

"To have the registration test be equal to the ballot test is just too much," Sykes said. "Alaskans want choices -- I think they want to see a varied political discussion."

In a state where the number of Alaskans registered to vote who don't belong to a political party outweighs the number of all party-affiliated voters, Sykes said, that desire to choose seems obvious.

"I hope the judge sees it our way," Sykes said.