RIL 1-7,1990 MlCHIG CITIZEN ,,11
i
WashiDgtoD, DC-based
Rainbow Lobby has stepped up
its campaign against the un­
democratic pr ctice of the
New Becti Service (Nm),
C21tity created by a consor­
tium of the country' 5 major
tdevisioo D aDd the ire
services to coUed and tabulate
election results.
The Lobby first challenged
the Nl5 in ovember, 1989 for
its failure to report accurately
the election results in the
p-edominantly Blac and Puerto
Rican 11th Councilmanic dis­
trict of New York City, where-'
despite the fact that 42% of the
vote went to the independe
ew Alliance Party candidate
for Ci ty Counci 1, Pedro
lSIleGa- only the vote counts of
the Democratic Party and Con­
servative Party candidates were ,
reported. .
The campaign being w ed
by the Rainbow Lobby, which
advocates for fair electio and
democracy in this country aDd
round the world, ha two
. thrusts: it is urging the NFS to
change its policies, which un­
fairly discriminate against inde- �
penden , and it is calling for an
inve tigation by the Ju tice
Deparm nt into th NES'
tivit .
The Lobby's call for a Justice
Department investigatio i
ed on evidence that the NES
is in violation of the S nnan
Antitrust Ac. The NES con­
stitu es an ag ment among the
televi ion networks and wire
rervices i: which would normal­
ly be prohibited ,by antitrust
I w - that they will not com-
te ith each other in th col­
lection of election re ults. In
1966 the Justice Department
agreed to e cmpt thc ES from
pr ccution under th . e law -
ith the tipulation that it
engage onl in the purely
mechanical s of collecting
and tabulating the vote and
rna ing the r� ults vailabIe to
the media, ever, in viola­
lion of that tipulr lion the NES
has enga zed in analyzing - even
bef rc the election-which can­
didates arc ne vsworthy" and
hich arc n , leading to the al­
m t universal failure to cover
the election results of inde­
pendent and minor party can­
didates,
"The ES is engaging in cen­
s hip by not making all infor­
m . on vailable to the press,"
La
bi
•
yl
i ie
air
en
EI
cion
eharged Deborah Green, the
Lobby's political director. "The
Justice Department sanctioned
the NES' argument that pooling
resources would result in more
ccurate, complete and timely
election results - thereby SeIV­
ing the public interest Since it
clearly no longer serves the
public interest, the justification
for its existence is called i 0
question."
So far the Lobby hasmetwith
some 60 members of CoDgress
and organizatioa such a
11th Councilmanic Di trict]
misrepresented the will of
13�381 people. Such biased
coverage has a very negative ef­
fect on how people perceive
elections: it discourages them
fro� voting at all and con­
tri butes to their
cy . cism ... [It) .. .fails to register
the measure of voter discontea
r the desire fo a change in
eaQlerSJru·p. Most of all, it fosters
a rcepdoe that voter participa­
ti in the election has been in­
e(( ive and lIleaningles ,"
Louis unez, president of th
National Puerto Rican CoaIi­
ti� �so wrote to Mr. Flaherty,
pointing out that "candidates
from racial and ethnic minority
group; sometimes find that the
only avenues to political em
po erm .are 0 • de the es­
tablished parties, . cularly at
the local level. " ailing to in-
clude the votes for aU can-
didates, as the does," Mr.
Nunez argued, "ef ectively dis­
enfranchises thos who have
voted for third 0 inde­
pendent candidat "
Americans for Democtatic Ac­
tion aDd the National Studen
Association part of its efforts
to put pressure <&rectly on the
Nm.
In a letter to Nm executive
director Robert Flaherty, Rep.
Edward Markey ·(D-MA) wrote,
• As a member of the Democratic .
Party, I am always pleased to see
a Democrat win an election, b
I caDDOt coodoue intentionally
. torting the awgin of victory.
The NBS' thoroughly un­
democratic reporting [in the
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