By Katherine Gregg
Journal State House Bureau

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has asked a fledgling political party seeking an easier path to the ballot to publicly disclose evidence of any effort it has made "to field or run candidates in any Rhode Island election."

He is also demanding, as part of a federal lawsuit, that the group disclose any research or surveys it has conducted.

Last week, through a spokesman, Lynch, a potential 2010 candidate for governor said: "This has nothing to do with 2010 and everything to do with my doing my job as AG in 2009."

But the head of the Moderate Party of Rhode Island -- the group that brought the ballot issue to U.S. District Court -- is accusing Democrat Lynch of a conflict of interest.

"In a nutshell, the AG's office asked for our complete membership list, as well as the names of anyone that we have spoken with regarding running for governor of Rhode Island. Aside from the obvious conflict of interest here since the AG himself is openly considering running for governor, these requests, in our opinion, have no relevancy to the question of whether or not Rhode Island's ballot access laws are constitutional,'' said Moderate Party leader Ken Block.

Block and his Moderate Party of Rhode Island are seeking to get on the statewide ballot for the 2010 election. Block is contesting the state law that says to get on the statewide ballot, a new party must get at least 5 percent of the vote in a statewide election or collect petitions signed by registered voters equal to 5 percent of the turnout in the previous statewide election. For 2010, that means about 23,500 signatures.
If a party chooses the petition route, it cannot start soliciting signatures until Jan. 1 of the election year. The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the 5 percent figure and the Jan. 1 starting date as unconstitutional, on the Moderate Party's behalf.
Responding to Block's allegations in a series of e-mails last week, Lynch spokesman Mike Healey said: "Block brought this lawsuit, not us. The attorney general is defending the State of Rhode Island, which is not only his job but his constitutional duty."

Lynch, who is representing the state Board of Elections and the secretary of state, denies that there is any conflict of interest. He said it's his duty to challenge whether the Moderate Party has legal standing.

"There is no rule stating that the attorney general has to recuse himself from any case with political ramifications," Healey said.

In a decision a week ago, U.S. District Judge William Smith placed restrictions on the information the state can seek from the Moderate Party. It can ask about candidates who publicly declare their party candidacy, but not the names of those the new party has tried to recruit who have not announced their decisions, according to the ACLU.