THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996 TAG: 9610170375
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 41 lines
From coast to coast, supporters of the Christian Coalition have bombarded the Federal Election Commission with an unprecedented 600 pieces of mail in protest of the lawsuit that the agency filed against the group alleging election law violations.
Officials said it is the largest amount of mail the FEC has received concerning one case in its 21-year history, and the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition regards the response as ``phenomenal.''
The mail ``clearly shows that this lawsuit has struck a nerve with religious and social conservatives, and they feel their First Amendment freedoms are in peril,'' coalition spokesman Mike Russell said.
At issue in the lawsuit is the Christian Coalition's distribution of millions of voter guides, or ``scorecards,'' that distinguish between ``good'' and ``misguided'' elected officials based on the way they vote on certain issues.
In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, the FEC alleges that the coalition illegally worked in tandem with Republican candidates in handing out the guides. It also accuses the group of illegally coordinating election-related activities with such candidates as President George Bush, Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and former Virginia Senate candidate Oliver L. North, as well as the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The coalition initiated the letter-writing campaign, urging its members in a newsletter to write to the FEC to protest its attempt ``to kill Christian voter education efforts.''
In a court hearing Wednesday concerning the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green refused to give the FEC the 18 months it requested to investigate further the coalition's alleged violations. Green said the FEC has been investigating the group for four years, and he gave both sides seven months to assemble their evidence.
KEYWORDS: LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN FEC LAWSUIT CHRISTIAN
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