Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE --The state Board of Elections met in closed session for about 40 minutes today, but reached no decision on whether it wants to appeal a federal court ruling that threw out part of the state's election laws on how political parties get on the statewide ballot.

Board Chairman John Daluz said the panel had initial discussions with the lawyer who handled the case for the state in the executive session, and members wanted to consider what they had heard. He said there would probably be another meeting, but it had not been scheduled.

The Board of Elections was one of the defendants in a lawsuit by Kenneth Block and his Moderate Party of Rhode Island which challenged the timetable state law set for new parties to collect signatures to get on the ballot. The law said parties had to wait until Jan.1 of the election year they wanted to compete in to collect the signatures.

But last Friday, U. S. District Court Judge William E. Smith ruled that the Jan.1 date was unconstitutional. By forcing new parties to collect signatures while established ones were free to recruit candidates and raise funds, the law violated federal guarantees of citizens' rights to organize for political goals and voters' rights to have representative elections.

 Tags  Board of Elections U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith

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