Peace and Freedom Party (United States)

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Image:Logo Peace and Freedom Party.gif The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a United States political party founded in 1967 as a leftist organization opposed to the Vietnam War.

The PFP gained its highest Presidential vote to date in 1968 when it nominated Black Panther spokesman Eldridge Cleaver for President. Although a convicted felon, Cleaver carried nearly 37,000 votes. During this time period, Bob Avakian was the spokesmen for the party in the San Francisco Area.

During the 1968 election, the New York Peace and Freedom Party consisted of a fractious coalition of competing Marxist groups along with libertarians led by Murray Rothbard.

In 1972, the PFP nominated democratic socialist and anti-war activist Benjamin Spock. Since then, the PFP has been active largely within the state of California, and it has been targeted by groups seeking its coveted California ballot spot.

In 1998, the PFP failed to attain more than 2% of the votes, causing them to lose ballot status in the state. Their position on the ballot was restored in 2003 after a voter registration drive, and convicted murderer/political prisoner and Native American activist Leonard Peltier was chosen as the party's 2004 presidential candidate at the August 2004 State Convention.

The party again fell under the required number of registered voters in February 2006, and was declared disqualified by Secretary of State. However, citing previous instances in which parties not meeting the 'ballot qualification' criteria were still allowed to participate in primary elections, and the fact that there had not yet been a regular gubernatorial election since the party regained its ballot status (and as such, the decision was premature), the decision to bar the party from the June 2006 Primary was reversed after less than a week.