ACLU Sues to Put David Duke on Rhode Island’s GOP Ballot

The American Civil Liberties Union went to court Tuesday to force Rhode Island’s secretary of state to put former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke’s name on the Republican presidential primary ballot.

ACLU officials acknowledged that they are at odds with Duke on many political issues. But attorney Michael DiBiase, who filed the suit in federal court, said, “Access to the ballot is a fundamental right.”

The threat of a similar lawsuit last week prompted Massachusetts Secretary of State Michael J. Connolly to allow Duke’s name on that state’s primary ballot beside that of President Bush.

In Rhode Island, Secretary of State Kathleen Connell also reversed course and granted conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan a place on the ballot after the ACLU threatened to take her to court. Connell said, however that she would not place Duke’s name on the ballot for the March 10 primary.

Connell refused Duke a ballot spot on the grounds that he was not a national political figure. National political figures are automatically entitled to ballot position in Rhode Island. Connell acted after consulting with Republican state Chairman Robert Rendine.

The ACLU’s suit said Connell’s decision violated state election laws. “What she is essentially doing is deciding, through the party, that people will not be allowed on the ballot solely because of their ideology, because of their political beliefs,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU chapter here. “That is unconstitutional.”

Besides Massachusetts, Duke is slated to appear on GOP primary ballots in Michigan, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas, the ACLU said. Republican leaders in Georgia and Florida hope to keep Duke’s name off the ballot in their states, but the Duke campaign plans to challenge such efforts in court