CAMPAIGN ’88 : Peace, Freedom Party Faces 2nd Convention

Unless the splintered Peace and Freedom Party holds a second, legally constituted convention before Sept. 5--a task a party leader said is impossible--it will not have a presidential candidate on the California ballot, the secretary of state said Wednesday.

The 20-year-old socialist party’s raucous convention in Oakland two weeks ago broke up three ways, with the largest faction backing Herb Lewin of Philadelphia, a second one supporting Lenora Fulani of New York and a third group favoring no nominee because the members doubted many of those attending the gathering were legitimate delegates.

In a Mailgram to Maureen Smith, the last party leader of record, Secretary of State March Fong Eu said she has concluded that “a proper convention was not held” because she cannot determine who among those at the convention met the state’s definition of a delegate or which candidate the legal delegates support.

Fulani will seek to get her name on the ballot anyway, by submitting petitions with 120,000 signatures today. A legal settlement allows her to run as an independent if she has 65,000 valid signatures, half the usual requirement. She said she will sue in federal court to reverse the decision.

Sept. 5 is Eu’s last opportunity to amend the list of statewide candidates’ names that is sent to each county before they start printing their ballots for November.