U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith just announced that attorney's fees have been awarded in the case of Block v. Mollis - a court case challenging the constitutionality of Rhode Island's ballot access laws.

In synopsis, Rhode Island General Law laid out a path to qualify a new political party for the ballot which ensured that the new political party would have a very difficult time qualifying for the ballot, as well as handicapping that new party from a fund raising and an organizational perspective.

A federal suit challenging the constitutionality of this law was filed naming as defendants the RI Secretary of State, RI Attorney General and the Executive Director of the RI Board of Elections. The RI chapter of the ACLU brought this case on behalf of the Moderate Party of RI.

This awful (and to me blatantly unfair) law was defended 'with vigor' (in the words of Judge Smith) by the Attorney General's office. The Attorney General's vigorous defense of this law was paternalistic, patronizing and ultimately costly to the tax payers of the state.

On May 30, 2009, Judge Smith struck down as unconstitutional the portion of RI General Law which prevented a new political party from petitioning for inclusion on the ballot in an off election year.

The effect of this decision is profound. Prior to the lawsuit, a new political party was relegated to beginning the process of collecting the nation's 12th highest total number of signatures to qualify a new party on January 1, 2010. Aside from the nasty implications of attempting to collect more than 30,000 signatures in-person from registered RI voters in the dead of winter, this law precluded the new political party from effective fund raising activities until the signatures were all in...a process which could have taken until May or June of the year of the election...dooming the new party to a massive financial handicap.

Judge Smith awarded attorney's fees of $33,919.75, with roughly $1,000 of costs also awarded.

Click here for Judge Smith's decision and order regarding the fees.


Our signature collection effort
Currently, 100 circulators are collecting signatures from registered RI voters to place the Moderate Party of RI on the ballot in 2010. The process is difficult, and the sheer number of signatures required is daunting.

The many thousands of signatures that we have already collected come from registered voters from every town and city in the state. One positive aspect of this process has been a very effective grassroots education about the Moderate Party effort. Many of you reading this email are doing so because you were pointed to our web site by one of our petition circulators. We thank you for your support!

We are now in possession of over 10,000 signatures, and look forward to completing this process and getting on with bringing much needed political change to our state.

About the Moderate Party of RI
The Moderate Party of RI is a new, centrist political party, dedicated to focusing on the most critical problems facing our state: the Economy, Education, Ethics and the Environment. Please see our website for more information on our platform issues.

Donations to support the Moderate Party of RI and help us prepare for the upcoming 2010 elections can be made here.


Much more to come soon.