We are very grateful to Kathleen Kempe of Greenville for making a copy of the Criteria for League of Women Voters of South Carolina United States Senate and House Debates available to us yesterday.  I am writing on behalf of C. Faye Walters, Green Party nominee for US House, District 4.

Faye understands that WYFF Television in Greenville plans to broadcast a live debate between the candidates in that race, sponsored by the League.  We are excited about this debate and submit Faye’s application to participate here.  I apologize for the late response, but we only yesterday got the information.

The paperwork we received covers three topic areas, and I take them up one at a time here for your consideration.  Because of the late date, I hope someone will let either Faye or me know by Saturday afternoon if a decision has been made on her application.  I can be reached at any time of day at 803-984-5414, or by fax at 1-800-305-5506.  Faye can be called at 1-864-361-1314.  The debate is scheduled for tomorrow night, so time is of the essence.

The first requirement is constitutional eligibility and says “The candidate, if elected, must be legally qualified to hold office under federal law.  The candidate must be eligible to be on the Ballot.”

Faye meets these requirements.  She is qualified under federal law to serve, and is on the ballot on November 2^nd, 2004.

The second requirement is proof of a formal campaign, and says “Candidates must show evidence that a formal campaign is being waged, such as campaign headquarters, campaign staff/volunteers, position papers and campaign appearances.  Status as a nominee of a particular party does not automatically make a candidate eligible for debate participation.”

Taking these points one at a time:

There are two campaign headquarters, one at Faye’s home, another at her business.  Campaign literature is stored in both places, and the campaign is coordinated from both sites.  The campaign website is maintained from a third location, but it is not a campaign headquarters.  Campaign volunteers use the campaign headquarters primarily as a contact place and a point of distribution of literature and other campaign materials.

Campaign staff/volunteers include a webmaster, campaign strategist, scheduling manager and volunteer coordinator.  These four, along with the candidate, coordinate appearances and produce campaign materials, as well as arranging distribution into specific targeted communities.

The League itself, as well as numerous other organizations, has asked for detailed responses to a number of questions.  All these answers and other campaign position papers can be found at the campaign website, www.FayeWalters.com.  In addition to these position papers, Faye has endorsed the Green Party platform, which can be reviewed at http://gp.org/platform.html  This exhaustive platform covers much more than can be shared here.

Campaign appearances have included visits to all three counties in the district, as well as a well received speech at the state Green Party convention where Faye was nominated last spring.  In addition, Faye has conducted interviews with radio and newspaper reporters.  Her campaign stops have included an appearance at the Greenville County Library, and door-to-door work in specifically targeted areas.  Much of Faye’s campaign work is done as part of every-day living, constantly engaging voters in discussion, regardless of where she might be at the time.

The rest of her agenda for this campaign year includes rallies in all three counties and house parties at supporter’s homes across the district.

The final requirement is proof of voter interest, and says “Candidates must demonstrate that there is significant voter interest and support of their candidacies as evidenced by receipt of six percent of support in one or more statewide nonpartisan public opinion polls conducted by a reputable polling organization by September 28^th, 2004.”

I went online to find which polls had been conducted, and found none.  In fact, in this particular race, I wasn’t able to find even one such poll, neither before nor after the primaries.  While it’s possible that such a poll was conducted, I could find no evidence of it.  Ms. Kempe, when asked about which polls we should look to, was unable to reference any for us.  Of course, the Brown and Inglis campaigns had to respond to this application just as Faye has, so I am sure the League can look at their applications and send the information along.

In the meantime, without any way to point to such a poll, I can only assume that it would make sense to explain why we believe Faye does in fact have the support of six percent of the voters, or more.

First of all, we must look at the number of votes cast in the primaries to see what level of support the other nominees have seen.  In the 2004 primaries Inglis secured 52,125 votes out of a total of 77,033 votes counted.  Brown, the Democratic nominee, won 8895.  That’s 77% for Inglis, 12% for Brown, and 11% for the other candidates in the race.  It’s reasonable to believe that some of these voters will come to Faye in the general election.  Many of the voters who cast ballots for folks other than Inglis or Brown will choose to vote for Faye. 

Add to this mix the fact that the Libertarian and Constitution parties won better than seven percent each in the 2000 election, meaning a total third-party vote of just under 16%, and you can see why it’s reasonable to believe that Faye’s Green Party run will likely garner support from better than 6% of the voters. Voters who prefer to vote for women will also add to Faye’s total.

I know the League didn’t establish these criteria to keep our nominees out of the debates.  In fact, I know the League believes in participation and democracy.  I look forward anxiously to your answer and to tuning in to watch Faye debating Brown and Inglis.  Imagine…a woman on that stage, at an event sponsored by the League of Women Voters.  Just sounds right, doesn’t it?

I apologize for such a wide distribution, but you folks have been so helpful and stay so busy that I hate to bother Ms. Kempe or Ms. Bailey again to find out whom to send this off to.  Hopefully the right folks got this.  If not, please do pass it along.

Sincerely,

Gregg Jocoy

803-984-5414