
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 19, 1994                   TAG: 9405190159
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RULING FAVORS VA. GOP

A federal judiciary panel on Wednesday refused to issue a preliminary injunction that would have declared the Republican Party's $45 convention registration fee illegal and required the party to reopen its process for selecting convention delegates.

The ruling in U.S District Court in Roanoke was in response to a lawsuit filed by three University of Virginia law students who claimed they were shut out of the upcoming state convention because they could not pay the fee.

The three judges refused to delay the convention slated for June 3-4 and dismissed claims that the convention fee violates the federal Voting Rights Act.

The judges said they had no jurisdiction to rule on three other counts, including one that Oliver North's U.S. Senate campaign illegally paid one of the students' registration fee.

Pamela S. Karlan, a University of Virginia law professor representing the students, said she likely would go forward with the suit, but that there probably will not be a ruling before the convention.

Donald Huffman, a prominent Roanoke Republican and one of the attorneys representing the party, raised his hands in the air after hearing the judges' decision, calling it a "slam-dunk" victory.

Virginia GOP Chairman Patrick McSweeny said the party isn't trying to exclude anyone and that the filing fee is necessary to fund the convention.

"If we had lost this [lawsuit] then we wouldn't have been able to have a convention in this state," he said. "We have been as inclusive as we possibly can."

Karlan argued Wednesday that the $45 registration fee is in violation of the federal Voting Rights act because the party did not seek federal approval to charge the fee.

Duncan Getchell, another lawyer for the GOP, argued that the federal act does not apply because it was designed to prevent racial discrimination.

"They are asking for an unprecedented extension of the Voting Rights Act," he said. "Everyone who pays the fee has the right to attend to the convention. There is no hint of racial discrimination here."

The students, who were seeking an injunction that would have allowed any registered voter to attend the convention, said the convention fee acts as an illegal poll tax.

U.S. District Judges James Spencer and James Michael and 4th U.S. Court of Appeals Judge H. Emory Widener dismissed that claim, saying the Voting Rights Act does not apply to the convention because it is not a formal election as defined under federal law.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB