ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows three University of Virginia law students to pursue their claim that a $45 fee charged for the 1994 state Republican convention amounted to a poll tax - a violation of federal voting rights law.
The court ruled 5-4 that political parties in states covered by the federal Voting Rights Act must get federal approval to charge a fee for delegates at nominating conventions.
The state Republican party said Wednesday it will proceed with its spring convention plans.
``The Supreme Court has basically trampled on the rights of free association of the party by what it's done,'' said David Johnson, state GOP executive director, echoing dissenting Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Johnson said he isn't sure how the ruling would affect this year's convention May 31-June 1 in Salem. The party will proceed as planned, but review the ruling carefully, he said.
From 3,000 to 4,000 Republicans are expected to attend to choose presidential electors, delegates to the party's national convention and party officials. To pay for the convention, Johnson said, the state party charges $35, and local parties can add their own surcharges.
Democrats who want to be state convention delegates are asked for a voluntary contribution of up to $25, said Gail Nardi, a state Democratic Party spokeswoman.
The Supreme Court said Virginia and the other affected states must get Justice Department clearance to change state election laws. They must show that voting changes are not racially discriminatory.
``We are gratified about the breadth of their holding,'' George Rutherglen, an attorney for the students, said of the ruling.
The fees were challenged by law students Fortis Morse, Kenneth Bartholomew and Kimberly Enderson. The justices did not address the merits of their lawsuit, instead sending it back to the U.S. District Court in Roanoke.
In Wednesday's decision, the five-justice majority gathered around two opinions. One was written by Justice John Paul Stevens for himself and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; the other by Justice Stephen Breyer for himself and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter.
Scalia and Thomas were joined in the dissent by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Anthony Kennedy.
The lack of both a majority opinion and clear guidance from the court shows there's still more debate to be had on the issue, said E. Duncan Getchell Jr., an attorney for the Virginia GOP.
``There's plenty of room as the law continues to develop in this area for the dissenters to prevail,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB