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To the Editor: 

I am writing to urge those who identify themselves as socialist or working class to vote for nobody for governor this year. In 1998, after 30 years on the ballot as a socialist alternative, the Peace and Freedom Party was dropped because none of its candidates obtained 2 percent at the polls that year, though several got 1.9 percent. At the time, Peace and Freedom registration was under 50,000 statewide. Now it’s more than 80,000, within striking distance of the 86,000 it needs to regain ballot status. 

The 86,000 figure is based on 1 percent of the people who voted for any gubernatorial candidate in the 1998 election. That figure will be recalibrated this year, and if there’s a low total vote for governor, Peace and Freedom could easily regain ballot status in 2004. 

The party is the only real leftist ballot alternative in California. We need to restore alternatives for the long haul by rejecting those available in the short term. Vote nobody for governor. 

Dave Linn 

Berkeley