ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Above
Fortis Morse only had $30 in his checking account the day he went to register for the 1994 Republican convention. Party officials told him he'd have to pay $45 to be a delegate.
Considering his financial predicament, the University of Virginia law student asked for a fee waiver but was told that wasn't done.
Morse left and returned with the money - he'd borrowed it from a friend. He asked again for alternatives to paying the fee.
"I really don't want to owe my friend money in order to vote," Morse told the official.
He says an Oliver North supporter later gave him cash to cover the fee, a charge North staffers have denied.
The process left Morse feeling the system excluded too many people.
The Giles County native and two classmates sued the Republican Party, calling the fee an illegal poll tax.
Morse applauded the Supreme Court's decision Wednesday that convention filing fees are subject to federal review.
"It's a big win for the Republican Party. Now it's going to be a stronger, bigger, better party because more people can participate."
Morse said he'd like to see all of the 1 million people who voted for Gov. George Allen get involved in party politics.
He's campaigned for Republicans since the third grade and considered Southwest Virginia legislators such as Jeff Stafford and Caldwell Butler role models.
Morse, 23, now lives in Madison, Wis., while his wife finishes medical school.
They married in December at the Republican House in Ripon, Wis. - where the party was founded - not far from his wife's hometown. He plans to finish his law degree at UVa after they move back in the fall.
He'll return with the distinction of having a federal case named for him - Morse vs. Republican Party of Virginia.
"It's very humbling for someone, who for as long as he can remember, has admired Republican lawyers."
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB