NAACP to tell court finance laws unconstitutional  Posted:
Tuesday, May 18, 1999     ATLANTA -- A coalition of civil rights
groups and Georgia voters heads to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court
of Appeals Tuesday to argue that state Senate elections are
unfair because they virtually exclude people of modest means.
   Because it takes so much money to be competitive in a
legislative election, they say, the system violates the equal-
protection and First Amendment rights of non-wealthy voters and
candidates.     ''A state can't condition participation on
having a whole lot of money,'' said Gregory Luke, an attorney
with the Boston-based National Voting Rights Institute who is
arguing the case against Georgia.     A Morris News Service
review of campaign records earlier this year found numerous
examples of one-sided legislative campaigns, like one House race
in Augusta where Republican incumbent Rep. Robin Williams
collected almost 30 times as much money as his two opponents,
with most of the money coming from out-of-d