The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Georgia Democratic Party of Georgia (DPG) recently filed lawsuits challenging the presidential ballot access of several third party candidates. This action includes the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) candidate for President, Claudia De la Cruz, who is also the South Carolina Workers Party (SCWP) candidate.
The leadership of the SCWP condemns this action as a desperate attempt by the DNC and the DPG to suppress Georgian’s right to vote for the candidate of their choice. Using the extensive legal resources of the national Democratic party to search for technicalities that can be used in attempts to disqualify and discredit third party candidates is a tactic that usually fails to win elections and violates the Democratic principles our country is founded on.
Candidates now running for General Assembly with the SCWP are all too familiar with these underhanded tactics. In 2022, Gary Votour was running for SC Governor as the SC Labor Party candidate (renamed in 2023 to the SCWP). He and two other candidates were removed by an injunction against the State Election Commission, who had previously certified them and included the on the upcoming ballot. The grounds for the court decision was an accidental misunderstanding of the timing of the party’s nominating convention by the party leadership at the time.
“We were on the ballot as certified candidates when a last minute lawsuit by the South Carolina Democratic Party (SCDP) was filed. We had only a few days to find legal representation and prepare a defense. Our request for an extension in order to do so was denied by the court, and we were removed from the ballot”, according to Mr. Votour. “This was patently unfair to us as candidates and to the voters of our state. As candidates, we did not set the convention dates, yet we were punished by the courts simply for running as third-party candidates. Unsurprisingly, the SCDP candidate for Governor, former Congressman Joe Cunningham, went on to lose by 17 points to the incumbent Republican Governor, Henry McMaster.”
Our party feels that removing third party candidates from the top of the election ballot has the effect of also suppressing down ballot votes. It is decidedly undemocratic to claim you are protecting ballot access when the result is denying voters the right to vote for candidates of their choice.
Pictured Above (Left to Right):Gary Votour (candidate for SC House District 76)Claudia De la Cruz (candidate for US President)
We agree completely with the following statement by the SCWP presidential candidate, Claudia De la Cruz: “This flagrant attempt by the Democrats to keep me, a socialist candidate, off the ballot is undemocratic and seeks to limit the options of Georgia voters. It is clear that both corporate-backed parties fail to solve the issues that the vast majority of people care deeply about. We reject the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party in claiming to be the protectors of democracy from Trump as they infringe on the rights of tens of thousands of voters who want more choices on the Georgia ballot. We will fight this in the courts and continue organizing in the streets for a real democracy that represents the economic and political interests of working people.”
The two party system repeatedly shows us all how it is broken. This latest appaling example of voter suppression is no more than an act of self-protection bullying against third-party candidates. Smaller parties do not generally have the funds or legal resources to defend voter rightswhen they are challenged by a partisan legal system that acts in accord with the predominant parties’ duopoly. It must be opposed in order to preserve the very democracy that allows us all to cast our votes for the candidates we prefer.
South Carolina Workers Party 