Archives of Online News Briefs News: October 13, 2004 Federal Court Refuses to Place Nader and Peroutka on Hawaii Ballot Today a federal circuit court judge refused to consider placing Ralph Nader and Michael Peroutka on the Hawaii ballot, saying it would be too expensive to order the state to reprint the ballots. Nader and Peroutka are pursuing their case in Hawaii state court. Pennsylvania Court Rules Nader Off Ballot Today the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled Ralph Nader off the ballot. However, the case will now be heard by the State Supreme Court, which many expect to be more favorable to Nader's appeal. That court had ordered the signature review completed by the Commonwealth Court. News: October 12, 2004 Federal Judge Refuses to Order Nader's Name Placed on Ohio Ballot A federal judge refused today to place independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader on the Ohio ballot, citing fraud by signature collectors. U.S. Judge Edmund Sargus ruled against Nader in deciding that the fraud outweighed the constitutional issues Nader raised. In his opinion, Sargus agreed with Nader that a state law requiring collectors to be registered Ohio voters and state residents is a constitutional violation of free speech rights. But he wrote, "Regardless of how the Court would resolve the question of whether a state law requiring circulators to be state residents is constitutional, the fact remains that the signatures would be excluded on the grounds of several forms of fraud on the part of the circulators." Nader still has a chance in Ohio, with a case still pending in the State Supreme Court. News: October 11, 2004 Paperwork Snafu Keeps Peroutka Off Wisconsin Ballot The Wisconsin Constitution Party failed to turn in a certification of its presidential nominee, Michael Peroutka, through an oversight. Therefore, his name will not appear on the ballot. Republicans and Democrats made similar mistakes in other states in the past, and their errors were always overlooked. However, the Constitution Party will not try to salvage the situation, since the ballots have been mostly printed already. News: October 10, 2004 Nader Appeals Idaho Court Loss Although Ralph Nader lost his Idaho ballot access lawsuit on October 6, he is not giving up. The judge had ruled that he should have sued the counties, not the Secretary of State. The issue is whether the counties should have validated certain names on his petition that had been invalidated. Nader is about to re-file his lawsuit, this time against Ada and Caldwell Counties. Arizona Libertarian Debates Lawsuit On October 8, an Arizona state court judge scheduled a hearing in Arizona Libertarian Party v Arizona State University and Commission on Presidential Debates. The party charges that Arizona State University, a public school, has spent several million dollars of taxpayer money to prepare for the 3rd and final major party presidential debate. The court hearing will be October 12. The Commission on Presidential Debates went to extraordinary lengths to avoid being served. The security guard at the Commission's Washington, D.C., office refused to accept the subpoena, and he refused to let anyone into the office to serve the subpoena. However, Libertarians filmed and tape-recorded the security guard's refusal, and the judge has accepted that evidence of service. News: October 9, 2004 Nader, Peroutka Jointly Sue Hawaii Yesterday Ralph Nader and Michael Peroutka jointly sued Hawaii in federal court over ballot access. The lawsuit charges that it is unconstitutional for Hawaii to require 3,711 signatures for an independent presidential candidate, when the state only requirees 677 signatures to qualify an entire new party. In Hawaii, a new party is entitled to its own primary, and is free to nominate someone for every partisan office in the state. Therefore, it seems irrational that the requirements for new parties are so much easier than for a single independent presidential candidate. Nader v. Yoshina. The case was assigned to federal judge David Ezra, a Reagan appointee. The hearing is October 13. Nader and Peroutka had been waiting for a final review of signatures by state elections officials that was finally completed yesterday. Breaking News: October 8, 2004 Maine Supreme Court Keeps Nader on Ballot Today Ralph Nader won in the Maine State Supreme Court unanimously, against a Democratic challenge to his ballot status. The issue was whether the declaration of candidacy forms for his presidential elector candidates should have been attached to each petition sheet. News: October 7, 2004 Ohio Supreme Court Ruling on Open versus Closed Primary Today the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-2 that even though Erie County election officials broke the law in this year's primary, the primary results should stand. Ohio and Illinois are the only two states that have closed primaries, even though there neither state asks voters to choose a party on voter registration forms. In Ohio and Illinois, a first-time voter is free to choose any party's primary. But, a record is made of which party that voter chose. In future elections, that voter must use the same party's primary ballot, unless in the period between elections, he or she filed a change of party affiliation. In this year's primary, Erie County elections officials didn't pay any attention to what party the various primary voters had voted in, in the last primary. They let any voter choose any party's primary ballot. A Democratic candidate for county judge who had narrowly lost her primary, sued, saying she would have won if the county had obeyed the law and kept Republicans out of the primary. But the State Supreme Court turned her down. It said she was right about the law, but that she should have complained about the county policy before the March primary, instead of waiting until after she had lost it. News: October 6, 2004 Nader Loses Texas Lawsuit in 5th Circuit This afternoon, the US Court of Appeals, 5th circuit, put out a one page opinion reaffirming the US District Court decision that upholds Texas independent presidential petition procedures. Nader v Connor, 04-50901. The one-page decision is not signed, and merely says, "Essentially for the reasons as well stated in the district court's memo opinion, we affirm that court's final judgment." The U.S. District Court decision had come out on September 1, 2004. It is preposterous for the 5th circuit to say that the US District Court decision is "well stated". That decision is based on a false fact. The District Court erroneously said that Texas requires a minor party presidential candidate to file a declaration of candidacy in January. Furthermore, the District Court decision didn't even discuss Nader's point that there is no rational reason for the state to require him to get 64,077 signatures, when an independent candidate for any other statewide office this year needs 45,540. Nader Loses Idaho Lawsuit Today Ralph Nader lost in state court in Idaho. The issue was whether he had enough valid signatures. Nader v Cenarrusa, cv 04-7234. One of the ironies of Nader's ballot access cases this year are that he is getting better treatment from judges affiliated with the Democratic Party, than from judges affiliated with the Republican Party. His ballot access losses today (Texas and Idaho) are at the hands of mostly Republican appointees, whereas his ballot access victories last week (in the Wisconsin and New Mexico Supreme Courts) were at the hands of mostly Democratic judges. News: October 5, 2004 Socialist Equality Loses Ohio Lawsuit on Petition Validity – Decision Is Bad News for Nader's Ohio Bid On the evening of October 4, the Ohio State Court of Appeals refused to place Socialist Equality Party presidential candidate Bill Van Auken on the ballot. Ohio requires 5,000 signatures. Van Auken turned in almost 8,000, but elections officials had invalidated half of them. The State Court of Appeals acknowledged that it is illegal for counties to have disqualified all signatures of voters who had printed their names instead of using handwriting. However, the court said that even counting all such printed signatures, Van Auken still didn't have enough valid ones. (Read the decision here.) As to Van Auken's other point, that his campaign had found enough other types of errors in the signature disqualification process to show that the petition probably really does have enough valid signatures, the court said Van Auken hadn't proved this point. Van Auken's campaign workers didn't have enough time to try to revalidate all the disqualified petitions. But based on the rate of errors in the disqualification process that they were found, relative to the number examined, it is statistically likely that the petition does have the needed 5,000 valid signatures. The court said this statistical extrapolation is not good enough. The decision does acknowledge that Ohio has no statutory procedure by which a candidate who has been told he or she doesn't have enough valid signatures, can contest that finding. By contrast, Ohio does have a process for contesting a finding that a candidate did have enough valid signatures. The Court impliedly criticized the legislative scheme on this point. The decision is bad news for Nader, who is also contesting his signature validity. Nader is seeking State Supreme Court review. News: October 4, 2004 DEMOS Criticizes California Prop. 62 On October 4, DEMOS (a nationwide think-tank that studies election problems) issued an eleven-page analysis of California's Proposition 62, which will be voted on by California voters on November 2. The report suggests that Prop. 62 is bad policy. Prop. 62, if put into practice, would leave California voters with only two candidates on November ballots for congress and state office. Read the DEMOS study here. US Supreme Court Refuses Pennsylvania Fusion Case On October 4, the US Supreme Court refused to hear Zulick v Wise, no. 03-1300. The issue was whether the Reform Party nominee for judge in Monroe County should have been on the November 2003 ballot. The lower courts kept him off, on the grounds that he was a "sore loser." However, the Democratic and Republican Party nominees were also each "sore losers," since each of them had lost a party primary for the same office. Pennsylvania permits fusion for some judicial elections. All three candidates had run in the Democratic and Republican primaries. The Reform Party, a qualified minor party which nomines by convention, had nominated Art Zulick. Ironically, Zulick had polled more combined votes in the two major party primaries, than either of his opponents. He had placed second in each primary. His Democratic opponent had placed third in the Republican primary, and his Republican opponent had placed third in the Democratic primary. Another irony is that, with Zulick off the ballot, his Republican opponent won the November 2003 election. But a short time afterwards, the Republican was forced to resign because of a sex scandal. Error Discovered in Michigan Absentee Ballots Michigan's ballot printer (for certain absentee ballots) erroneously printed ballots that make it impossible for the voter to vote for President Bush. Click the link to see what it looks like. The ballots will be reprinted and re-mailed. News: October 2, 2004 Hawaii to Re-Examine Nader and Peroutka Ballot Petitions The Hawaii Office of Elections yesterday agreed to re-examine disputed petition signatures before determining whether Ralph Nader and Michael Peroutka qualify for the state's ballot in November. Their supporters believe they each have collected the 3,711 signatures necessary to get on the ballot, but election officials initially ruled they came up short. The recount will likely occur on Monday. News: October 1, 2004 Arkansas Supreme Court Affirms Nader on Ballot The Arkansas Supreme Court voted 4-3 this afternoon to affirm Ralph Nader's spot on the state's ballots. Addressing the issue of the use of the Populist Party label, the court said state law does not stipulate that an electorate name a candidate for president or vice president. The law requires only that the signers of the petition state their desires that the named candidates appear on the ballot, the court ruling said. Pennsylvania Court Grants More Time to Examine Nader Signatures The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court delayed a decision on challenges to Ralph Nader's name on that state's ballot to provide time to examine petition signatures. G. Ronald Darlington, the court's executive administrator, said the petition was the largest ever submitted in a presidential race in the state, but 35,000 of the 52,000 signatures have been contested. The court said the review would continue through the weekend. It canceled other business scheduled for next week and said it hoped to finish the review within 10 days. Arkansas Supreme Court Justice: "Impossible" to Decide Nader Case in Time for Voting Deadline An Arkansas Supreme Court justice complained Thursday that despite working diligently to resolve a lawsuit to remove Ralph Nader from the ballot, the court was being asked to do the “impossible” to meet voting deadlines. Justice Donald Corbin made his comments after the justices were informed by Wendy Kelly with the Attorney General’s Office that they need to rule on the case no later than today to ensure that county clerks have the ballots for early voting by Oct. 8. During Thursday’s arguments, the lawyer for the attorney general’s office told the justices that if they can’t make the decision by today there is an option they could consider that would guarantee ballots reach county clerks by the deadline. Kelly said the Supreme Court could rescind their order, which stopped the printing of the ballots and allow printing to continue with Nader’s name on the ballot. If the court upholds Fox’s decision the justices could simply order that Nader votes not be counted on Nov. 2. News: September 30, 2004 Wisconsin Supreme Court Puts Nader on Ballot The state Supreme Court decided Thursday to put independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader back on the Wisconsin ballot. The court ruled unanimously that Nader had substantially complied with the state's requirements for ballot access and should be on the ballot. The ruling overturned a circuit judge's decision earlier this week that temporarily knocked him off. News: September 28, 2004 Nader Wins 2, Loses 3 US Supreme Court Rejects Nader Oregon Appeal The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a last-ditch bid to put Ralph Nader on Oregon's presidential ballot. Nader supporters had asked the court last week to block Oregon from printing ballots that lack Nader's name. The court declined, although Justice Stephen Breyer noted that he supported the stay. The court is still free to decide the case on the merits later. New Mexico Supreme Court Orders Nader on Ballot The New Mexico Supreme Court today ordered Ralph Nader's name to be placed on New Mexico's Nov. 2 ballot as an independent presidential candidate, turning back a Democratic challenge to his candidacy. The court announced its decision after deliberating for about 90 minutes following oral arguments in the case earlier today. Ohio Secretary of State Rules Nader Off Ballot Today Ohio Secretary of State ruled that Ralph Nader won't appear on the ballot due to insufficient signatures. Petitions circulated by out-of-state petitioners were disqualified. Nader's supporters are appealing the decision to state court. Wisconsin Judge Knocks Nader Off Ballot A Dane County judge ruled independent candidate Ralph Nader be left off the Wisconsin ballot. Circuit Judge Michael Nowakowski stayed a portion of his decison until tomorrow to give Nader supporters time to file an appeal. An attorney representing Nader backers say they plan to file their appeal with the state Supreme court later today. Maine Superior Court Affirms Nader on Ballot Maine Democrats lost a bid to keep independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's name off the Nov. 2 ballot as a judge upheld the state's petition review procedures. US Supreme Court to Review Oklahoma Libertarian Primary Systems Lawsuit Today the US Supreme Court announced it will hear Clingman v Beaver, a lawsuit brought by the Oklahoma Libertarian Party. The issue is whether a party has a right to demand an open primary, in a state which only permits closed or semi-closed primaries. Oklahoma does not permit registered members of any party to vote in any other party's primary. But the Oklahoma Libertarian Party, in 2004, had filed a lawsuit asking that all voters be permitted to vote in the Oklahoma Libertarian primary. The case had lost in US District Court but won in the 10th circuit. Now, the US Supreme Court will settle the issue for the entire nation. If Oklahoma Libertarians win the case in the US Supreme Court, qualified parties with their own primary will be able to insist that (if the party wants) all voters may vote in that party's primary. The Oklahoma Libertarian Party had wanted all voters to be able to vote in its primary, as a means of getting the public interested in the party. Ironically, the party is not on the ballot in Oklahoma this year. News: September 27, 2004 Minnesota Victory Today the Minnesota State Supreme Court struck down a law that was being used to keep all of the Indepencence Party's candidates off the November 2, 2004 ballot. The court issued a two-page order, and will explain its reasoning later. The law requires a party that participates in a primary to attract a certain number of voters into its primary. If the minimum threshold is not met, none of the party's nominees may be placed on the November ballot. The case is Candidacy of Independence Party nominees v Kiffmeyer, A04-1775. News: September 26, 2004 Independence Party of New York Nominates Nader Today, the Independence Party of New York nominated Ralph Nader for President. The party is only on the ballot in New York, but it used to be the state affiliate of Ross Perot's Reform Party. Nader is already on the state ballot via his petition drive under the Peace and Justice Party, so he will have two lines on the state ballot. News: September 24, 2004 Nader Defeats New Hampshire Challenge; Loses North Carolina Challenge The New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission voted 5-0 on Friday to keep Ralph Nader on the state's ballot. The commission rejected a Democratic challenge to some of Nader's petition signatures. The case may be appealed to the NH Supreme Court. In North Carolina, supporters lost an appeal to place Nader on that state's ballot. News: September 23, 2004 Arkansas and New Mexico Supreme Courts Stay Orders Barring Nader The Arkansas State Supreme Court stayed an order by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox barring Ralph Nader from Arkansas' ballot. The court ordered a halt to the printing of ballots until after a decision on Nader' appeal is heard September 30. The New Mexico Supreme Court ordered the halt of the distribution of ballots that don't include Nader's name pending the outcome of his appeal to run as an independent, scheduled for September 28. News: September 22, 2004 Oregon Supreme Court Disqualifies Nader The Oregon Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Ralph Nader will not appear on the Oregon presidential ballot, reversing a lower court. The Supreme Court upheld Democratic Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, who determined that flawed petitions sheets left the independent presidential candidate 218 signatures short of the 15,306 needed to put him on the Nov. 2 ballot. The Nader campaign is appealing this decision to the US Supreme Court. Appeals Court Rules Nader Too Late for Illinois Ballot A federal appeals court today refused to give independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader a spot on the Illinois ballot, saying his lawsuit against state election officials who turned him down came too late. The court did not rule on the two issues of the suit, the June 21 deadline and the 25,000-signature requirement. The court said that the lawsuit should have been filed when he declared his candidacy in February. Read Richard Winger's letter to Judge Posner on this decision. 3 of 5 New Mexico Supreme Court Justices Recuse Themselves From Nader Appeal Three out of five state Supreme Court justices have recused themselves in advance from any appeal in the case arguing Ralph Nader's right to appear on the New Mexico ballot for president. The husband of one justice works for the law firm that filed the suit against Nader. But the other two justices recused themselves simply because they are up for retention election this year. The Nader campaign is filing an appeal with the court today. If the court hears the case, they will have to call lower court justices in to fill a quorum. News: September 21, 2004 Wisconsin Elections Board Votes to Keep Nader on Ballot The state Elections Board voted today to keep Ralph Nader on the Wisconsin ballot. The Board is composed of 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 1 Libertarian. There is a Libertarian on the board because that party got over 10% of the gubernatorial vote in 2002. On the issue of whether Nader should be eliminated from the ballot because one of his candidates for presidential elector didn't live in the particular congressional district, the vote to keep Nader on the ballot was 5-4. The 4 Republicans and the Libertarian voted for Nader. On the issue of whether Nader should be eliminated from the ballot because he is an independent in Wisconsin but a Reform Party nominee in other states, the vote was 6-3. One of the Democrats voted with the Libertarian and the Republicans in favor of Nader. Constitution Party's Peroutka Removed from Vermont Ballot The Constitution Party is a qualified party in Vermont, so they needed no signatures to qualify their Presidential candidate, Michael Peroutka. They were only required to have a convention which was announced in a newspaper five days before. They failed to run a newspaper ad, so Peroutka is off the ballot. News: September 20, 2004:    - Maryland, Pennsyvania put Nader On;    - New Mexico in Double Reversal for Nader    - Arkansas Takes Nader Off    - New Zogby 6-candidate Poll New Mexico Judge Withdraws Decision Barring Nader from Ballot, Another Judge Knocks Him Off Again In New Mexico, the lower state court judge who removed Nader from the ballot on September 17 retracted her opinion, followed by another judge once again barring him. He is being disqualified on the grounds that no one may be an independent candidate for president in New Mexico, if he is the nominee of a minor party in some other state. However, the plain text of the law excludes presidential independents from any restrictions as to affiliation. Nader Wins Appeal in Maryland The Maryland Court of Appeals, the states' highest court, ruled that Ralph Nader must be put on the state's ballot. The issue was whether a validly-registered voter should count, if he or she signed on the wrong county sheet. In other words, if a Howard County registrant accidentally signs a sheet intended for Baltimore County voters, should it count? Maryland now has a centralized, computerized list of all the registered voters in the state, so the court felt that the signatures need not be on the right sheet to count. Pennsylvania Court Gives Hope to Nader Pennsylvania's highest court overturned a lower court ruling today that barred Ralph Nader from running for president in the state as an independent candidate. The state Supreme Court ordered the Commonwealth Court to immediately commence a review of Nader's nominating petition. BAN now lists Nader as on the ballot in Pennsyvania subject to legal challenge. Nader's Name Stricken From Arkansas Ballot Nader was ruled off the ballot (by Judge Timothy Fox of the Circuit Court of Pulaska County) in Arkansas for 2 reasons: He said Nader used the "group name" Populist Party, and the Populist Party was a qualified party in Arkansas in 1988 and a group can't use the name of a qualified party. However, the judge is mistaken. The Populist Party of the 1980's, which ran Bob Richards for president in 1984, David Duke in 1988, and Bo Gritz in 1992, was never a qualified party in Arkansas. However, Nader's attorneys didn't know this. He said Nader's petitions should have said that the signers intend to vote for Nader. However, Nader used the Secretary of State's form, which doesn't carry that language. Furthermore, the 4th and 6th circuits have both ruled that states can't require candidate petitions to say that the signers intend to vote for the candidate. So even if Arkansas did require that language, it probably would be unconstitutional to do so. Zogby Releases New 6-Candidate Poll Results The latest Zogby America poll was just released with results for six Presidential candidates. Results listed are compared to two previous polls also listing the six candidates. Results for the Sept. 17-19 poll are as follows: Bush 46.0% Kerry 43.0% Nader 1.4% Badnarik 1.2% Peroutka 0.1% Cobb 0% Other 0.9% Undecided 7.0% News: September 18, 2004 Gallup Releases 6-Candidate Poll Results The latest Gallup/CNN/USA Today poll was just released with results for six Presidential candidates. Results listed are compared to two previous polls also listing the six candidates. Unlike many other polls Gallup "pushes" undecided respondents into choosing their more likely choice. Results for the Sept. 13-15 poll are as follows: Bush 52.0% Kerry 40.0% Nader 3.0% Badnarik 1.0% Peroutka ** Cobb ** Unsure 2.0% **Less than 0.5% News: September 17, 2004 Florida Supreme Court Assures Nader on the Ballot; New Mexico Court Bars Nader; Nader Qualifies in Vermont; The Florida Supreme Court has uled that Ralph Nader must be placed on the state's ballots. The vote was 6-1. A state court in New Mexico accepted a challenge against Nader's ballot status and barred him from the ballot as an independent since he was nominated by political parties in other states. Nader's forces are appealing the ruling. Nader has qualified in Vermont, the state with the latest deadline in the nation: today. The state is notable because the Green Party broke with the national organization and endorsed Nader over David Cobb. Also today: A Utah court ruled against David Cobb in an intra-party challenge over the Green Party line. He will not be on the Utah ballot. A Colorado state court turned down a challenge to Ralph Nader's candidacy on the Reform Party line, on the grounds that the Reform Party is not a "real" party. News: September 16, 2004 Effort to Bounce Nader From Wash. State Ballot Fails Ralph Nader remains on the November presidential ballot in Washington state despite an effort to block him. The state Democratic party and an Olympia court attorney had sued in Thurston County Superior Court to block Nader from the general election ballot. A Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that the secretary of state's office correctly followed state law when officials put Nader on the ballot two weeks ago. News: September 13, 2004 Zogby Releases 6-Candidate Poll Results The latest Zogby America poll was just released with results for six Presidential candidates. Results listed are compared to two previous polls also listing the six candidates. Results for the Sept. 8-9 poll are as follows: Bush 46.0% Kerry 42.0% Nader 2.4% Badnarik 0.9% Peroutka 0.3% Cobb 0% Other 0.6% Undecided 8.0% News: September 5, 2004 Parties Dispute New Hamphire Disqualification New Hampshire elections officials announced on September 3 that Ralph Nader has enough signatures to be on the ballot. But, they said that the Libertarian statewide slate (for Michael Badnarik for president and Ken Blevins for US Senate) does not have enough. Also the state said the Constitution Party's presidential petition for Michael Peroutka does not have enough. Both parties are contesting the results of the validation process. In addition, the Libertarian Party may challenge the distribution requirement. Since a major party candidate can win a statewide primary, without regard to whether he or she has substantial support in both of New Hampshire's U.S. House districts, the party may argue that the state has no interest in requiring a petitioning candidate for that same office to show substantial support in both of New Hampshire's US House districts. If New Hampshire didn't require 1,500 signatures from each of the two districts, the Libertarian Party candidate for US Senate would now be on the ballot. News: September 4, 2004 New Hampshire Disqualifies Libertarian Party Candidates On September 2, New Hampshire elections officials ruled that Libertarian candidates for president and US Senate failed to submit 3,000 valid signatures. Michael Peroutka, Constitution Party candidate, also failed to submit enough signatures. On the other hand, Ralph Nader was found to have more than enough valid signatures in New Hampshire. No other presidential candidates attempted to petition in New Hampshire. Unless the decision is overturned, neither Michael Badnarik nor Michael Peroutka will be on the ballot in that state. The Libertarian candidate for US Senate was also disqualified. News: September 3, 2004 Court Decisions on Ballot Access Coming Thick and Fast The September 1 Ballot Access News reported three wins and three loses, during August. Since that issue went to press, eight more decisions have come down: On August 24, US District Court Judge Myron Thompson upheld Alabama's petition requirement, of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote. On September 3, Walt Brown, Socialist Party presidential candidate, won his ballot access lawsuit against Colorado. The issue was whether the filing fee was due on Friday, July 2, or Monday, July 5. The law says it was due 120 days before the general election, which is July 5, but the Secretary of State's office was closed that day for the celebration of July 4. On September 3, Nader won his Michigan State Court lawsuit, so that he will appear on the ballot as an independent candidate. The issue was whether a petition should be invalidated just because the candidate and his associates did not themselves circulate it. On September 2, the West Virginia Libertarian Party lost its lawsuit to get its gubernatorial candidate on the ballot. The issue was the May petition deadline. The party is appealing to the State Supreme Court. 5. Also on September 2, Nader won his lawsuit in lower state court in West Virginia. The judge, a Democrat, ruled that just because 6 witnesses saw Nader petitioners trying to obscure the fact that the petition was indeed for Nader, was not enough reason to invalidate the entire petition. 6. On September 1, Nader lost his Texas case in federal court. He has already appealed to the 5th circuit. 4. On August 31, the Ohio Libertarian Party lost its lawsuit against the deadline for submitting petitions to create a new party. That deadline is an entire year before the election. The party will appeal to the 6th circuit. 3. The Libertarian presidential candidate, Michael Badnarik, did a separate independent petition, so this decision doesn't keep him off the ballot. On August 30, Ralph Nader lost his Pennsylvania case, but he is appealing to the State Supreme Court. An editorial in the September 2 Philadelphia Inquirer attacked the anti-Nader decision of the lower state court. News: August 29, 2004 Nader Loses Texas Lawsuit On September 1, US District Court Judge Lee Yeakel, a Bush Jr. appointee, upheld Texas ballot access laws. Independent presidential candidates need 64,077 signatures. Independent candidates for other statewide office, and new parties, need 45,540. Also, independent candidate petitions are due May 10, and new party petitions are due May 24. Judge Yeakel didn't even discuss the point that independent presidential candidates need 41% more signatures than independent candidates for other statewide office. He said the higher number of signatures for independents is justified because minor and new parties must hold conventions. Judge Yeakel made a factual error, when he said that minor party presidential candidates must file a declaration of candidacy on January 2. He did not show a reference for his assertion, and his assertion is untrue. Judge Yeakel held the hearing on July 22 and promised a decision by the first week in August. Instead, he delayed his decision until September 1, giving Nader precious little time to appeal. Judge Yeakel said the Texas scheme is not discriminatory, and not severe, and thus he did not apply strict scrutiny. In the entire history of government-printed ballots in Texas, only 4 independent presidential candidates have ever qualified by petition in Texas. Also Eugene McCarthy qualified by court order in 1976. News: August 29, 2004 Reform Party Re-Nominates Nader On August 28, the national convention of the Reform Party, meeting in Irving, Texas, re-nominated Ralph Nader for president and Peter Camejo for vice-president.   Back to Home Page