These individuals might believe they are engaged in lawful political activity, the same as a candidate running an attack ad against another. But they are mistaken.
The difference is that No Labels is not running a campaign, nor will it ever. No Labels is a 501(c)(4) organization conducting a ballot access drive, which is constitutionally protected activity, comparable to a non-partisan voter registration drive. We have the right to do this thanks to the Unity08 vs. FEC court decision, which found that a nonprofit like No Labels can pursue ballot access so long as we are not advocating for a specific candidate.
Imagine a non-profit organization such as the NAACP working to help disenfranchised citizens register to vote. If a group of partisans tried to terrify and harass them into stopping, the country would be outraged—and those partisans would likely be prosecuted.
What’s happening to No Labels is similar, and we allege it is a violation of multiple criminal statutes, including:
- 18 U.S.C. § 241, which prevents individuals from conspiring to oppress, threaten or intimidate anyone, “in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” This same statute has been cited against Donald Trump in his felony cases.
- 18 U.S.C. § 245(b), which prohibits any individual from interfering or attempting to interfere with, among other things, voting or “participating in or enjoying any benefit, service, privilege, program . . . or activity provided or administered by the United States.”
- 18 U.S.C. § 1951, an anti-extortion law that prevents any person from intentionally using fear and intimidation to secure a benefit for themselves. This statute has been used to prosecute members of the mafia and Congress has ruled that it can apply to racketeering and RICO cases involving conspiracies among groups of individuals, as it does here.
- Finally, these activities represent violations of both No Labels’ and voters’ First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld ballot access work as protected First Amendment activity.
Our complaint to the Department of Justice is not just about protecting No Labels and its staff. It is about protecting the more than one million voters who have signed petitions to get No Labels on the ballot. It is about protecting you, our supporters and your right to demand another choice in the presidential election.
After all, you’re in good company—63 percent of all voters support another choice, according to Gallup. No one has a right to stop that choice from being offered.
And to be clear: Those attempting to stop us will not succeed. It will be the American people—not our partisan detractors—who decide whether No Labels gives our ballot line to a candidate or not. That decision is approaching soon. And we haven’t come this far to back down in the face of threats.
Thank you for standing with us.
Margaret
