Wald Sues to Let Socialists on Ballot

George Wald, Higgins Professor of Biology, and 11 other plaintiffs filed suit in U.S. District Court last week to obtain legal recognition of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP).

The suit asks the court to declare unconstitutional a Massachusetts law that requires a party to receive three per cent of the vote for governor in the preceding state election in order to appear on the subsequent ballot.

Since the SWP didn't receive three per cent of the vote in 1970, it can't appear on the 1974 ballot under the law, Wald said yesterday.

Wald said he joined the suit as "a matter of civil rights," not because of any allegiance to the SWP.

"The political process in this country can use some political dissent, and this is one way to get it," he said.

"At present we're in danger of becoming, not a two-party, but a one-party system, with two groups called Democrats and Republicans fighting over the spoils," Wald said.

Wald said that filing this suit doesn't mean he is against the two-party system.

May 'Kill Democracy'

"Historically, democracy has worked best with two or at most three parties, but to have only one party is to kill democracy," Wald said.

In the brief filed with the court, the plaintiffs claim that the state law denies them "their rights to due process and their rights of free speech and assembly by effectively preventing them from voting or registering for the SWP."