In the past month, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers has received a steady stream of mail, phone calls, and emails asking him to accept a court decision allowing the Freedom Socialist Party (FSP) to run candidates for public office.

but on March 8, Myers and Secretary of State Bill Bradbury notified the Oregon Court of Appeals that they will contest the January 16 ruling by Multnomah County Circuit Judge Robert Redding. The FSP had filed suit in Judge Reddings’ court after the Secretary of State rejected its electoral petition on the grounds that a previously certified socialist party had exclusive use of the word “socialist.” That group, the Socialist Party, strongly supports the Freedom Socialist Party’s case.

In overturning the Secretary of State’s policy, Judge Redding ruled that “it would be an unconstitutional restriction on the organization’s constitutional rights to free speech and association... to prohibit the party from running candidates under its own name.”

The state of Oregon now seeks to reverse this decision.

Plaintiff and intended FSP candidate Jordana Sardo said, “It is not too late to pressure the Secretary of State to back down. Although we’re sure to prevail at the Court of Appeals, we’d prefer to get on the ballot this year.”

FSP Defense Committee Chair Eduardo Martinez-Zapata said, “Myers recently defended legislators’ so-called free speech right to accept donations. But what about voters’ rights to choose among differing political ideologies?”