The Moderate Party of Rhode Island lawsuit over Rhode Island's ballot access laws is heading to trial on Thursday April 30th, 2009 at 9:00am.

 

This case (Block et al v. Mollis et al) will be heard in U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island before Judge William E. Smith.  The U.S. District Court is located at One Exchange Terrace in Providence - directly adjacent to Kennedy Plaza.

 

The Rhode Island branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is providing representation to the Moderate Party of RI in this case.

 

Specifics about the lawsuit can be viewed here:

 

 

Aside from the lawsuit, the Moderate Party of Rhode Island has pursued a legislative solution to address Rhode Island's prohibitive ballot access laws. 

 

We have bills pending in the state legislature (S 0203 and H 5426) which seek to lower the state's signature petition threshold percentage and remove the start date for collecting signature petitions.  Both of these bills have been held for further study.  In an effort to get legislative activity on the House bill, sponsor Rep. Driver will be requesting a 'Sub A' to modify the House bill to set the threshold at 10,000 signatures - up from the bill's original 1% threshold.   

 

It is imperative that either the court case or legislative action modify Rhode Island's ballot access laws.  Without a change, these laws all but guarantee that an emerging political party fails due to monetary and organizational handicaps.

 

 

 

The Moderate Party of Rhode Island is a new, Rhode Island-based political organization dedicated to centrist governance.  Our mission is to tackle issues important to the vast majority of Rhode Island voters.  These issues are related to the Economy, Education, Ethics and the Environment.  Additional information about the Moderate Party of Rhode Island can be found at: