Secretary of State Bowen illegally excludes Socialist Candidates from Peace

Bowen reportedly left numerous alternative party candidates submitted to her by their parties off the ballot. Peace and Freedom submitted four sets of candidates, but Bowen only placed two on the ballot. Left off were Freedom Socialist Party candidate Stephen Durham and Party For Socialism and Liberation candidate Peta Lindsay off the ballot. She gave no good reason why and refused to relent. Durham was put on the ballot after the threatened legal challenge by a lawyer basically waving prepared legal paperwork in her face. I don’t know whether or not Lindsay has gotten her name on the ballot at this point.

Reportedly, the Elections Code (section 6721) requires the Secretary of State to ask the Peace and Freedom for information regarding Presidential Party candidates and is required to list all the candidates’ information provided. Some think she has (if so illegally) arbitrarily set one uniform set of conditions for all parties’ candidates instead of honoring the intact process each party has implemented with the State. This is reportedly the first time in 36 years that such a tactic has been attempted. A truly sorry state of affairs for a politician who used to be known as a fighter for liberal/progressive grassroots causes before rising to this State-level position.