On July 15, Bob Barr held a press conference in Oklahoma City to denounce the state’s ballot access laws, and to say that he is about to file a lawsuit against the independent presidential procedure. He also turned in 9,488 signatures on an independent petition.
No one has appeared on the ballot as an independent presidential candidate in Oklahoma since 1992. According to the U.S. Supreme Court in Storer v Brown, an independent candidate petition procedure that is rarely used is probably unconstitutional. Also, Oklahoma seems to have little interest in making independent presidential ballot access difficult, since Oklahoma requires no signatures at all for independent candidates for other office. Yet in Anderson v Celebrezze, the U.S. Supreme Court said that states have less interest in keeping presidential candidates off their ballots, than candidates for other office. This is because a presidential election is of concern to the entire nation. Here is a link to the Tulsa World’s coverage of the Barr press conference.
Go get um! Stomp um, spit in their eye!
Just do not expect any help from OK reformers!
refrm60m@pldi.net
ddipp@pldi.net
Why? because the reform party is dead? What a useless party that was!
Oh, so true, so true. But remember, Perot 20% [after ducking out and coming back in] for P1992! It’s not the fall that kill ya, it is the sudden stop at the very end!
There has to be a major overhaul of how the ballots are done in the United States. Oklahoma is unusually restrictive in this area. For the simple fact that it is the tightest in the nation makes it the least democratic in the nation and that deserves to be put under the microscope.
Bob Barr, here’s to you. I hope you win this lawsuit and I hope the people of Oklahoma will see that it is for their own good.
The web site for Oklahomans for Ballot Access Reform (OBAR) /www.okvoterchoice.org/ appears to be a good resource.
Go Bob Barr!
It’s time to smash the two party monopoly.
Sue the crap out of OK, Barr. And give Nader a call while you’re at it. Combining resources on this could be the very thing to break down the barrier on OK ballot access.
Barr doesn’t need Oklahoma to win, but the publicity can only help. This will be a three way race before it’s over and Barr will be flying in the stretch. Many don’t know he’s even running, but this will change and it won’t be long before everyone knows. He’s polling 6 to 10% in states where only 33% of the people know who he is and that he’s on the ballot.