To the Editor:

I'm writing to thank Athens for giving us 26% of the vote which has been documented so far. I'm also writing to clarify two statements made in your article, "Write-in White Out" on November 11, 1998. Actually we weren't so smart as to keep our day jobs. And the times we weren't spending significant time campaigning in eco-friendly Athens to drum up support, we were doing it in other urban and rural communities around Georgia, many of them just as committed as Athens to creating democracy, sustainability, justice and peace in our lifetimes. We are not alone.

Kerrie asked her mother to help pay the rent on the house she used to share with her daughter. I put everything I owed in storage. Together we used up three $4-500.00 vehicles of our own and borrowed a few from friends for a day or two. We're now on our fourth vehicle and are working to start a business that will support us as we continue to travel the state and organize the Party in preparation for the 2000 elections.

Clearly, the corporate parties have rigged the election rules to maintain control. This serves to prevent the opposition of popular and democratic public initiatives which would hold their campaign contributors accountable. It is time we put a stop to the destruction caused in the name of profit and the elevation of the private property rights of individuals over the protection of the common wealth which belongs to us all. The incidents recounted in Mr. Faussett's article and Ms. Nettles letter were not the only barriers to democracy we encountered.

I urge Shari Nettles and anyone else who is interested to check out the case Esco v Secretary of State which was heard on an oral argument calendar before the Georgia Supreme Court in the Fall of 1997. A brief of the legal issues at stake can be found at: http://petra.greens.org/georgia/nader_vote_96.htm.

I'm urging voters who have encountered barriers to their ability to cast a meaningful vote by secret ballot for the candidate of their choice and to have that vote counted and reported to document your experiences by mailing me a letter, preferably notarized, copied to your state legislator who can do something about it in the next legislative term.

If you want to help build a Party committed to doing something about these problems and cleaning up the air, water, soil and food besides, please call the Georgia Green Party at 800/ 447-6694.

-- Hugh Esco