| Author |
Message |
Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
|
 Thu Sep 09, 2004 5:32 pm Judge orders Nader appear on Ore. ballot |
|
| Quote: |
Judge orders Nader appear on Ore. ballot
01:41 PM PDT on Thursday, September 9, 2004
By CHARLES E. BEGGS, Associated Press Writer
SALEM -- Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's name should appear on Oregon's ballot this fall, a Marion County Circuit Court judge ruled Thursday, overturning a decision by the state's Democratic secretary of state.
 Presidential hopeful Ralph Nader.
Nader supporters had turned in more than 18,000 signatures, but Secretary of State Bill Bradbury last week invalidated several thousand because of irregularities on petition sheets. That left Nader 218 signatures short of the 15,306 needed to put him on the Nov. 2 ballot, prompting a lawsuit by his supporters.
Nader backers had accused Bradbury of using technicalities to keep Nader off the ballot, because Bradbury is an open supporter of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Democrats fear Nader's candidacy could draw votes from Kerry and tip the election to President Bush.
State Elections Director John Lindback denied that state officials had applied different rules to Nader than they had to other candidates.
"We apply the law evenhandedly and the secretary's positions are irrelevant," he testified.
But on Thursday, Marion Circuit Judge Paul Lipscomb ruled that election officials acted without authority in disqualifying some petitions because of perceived problems with circulators' signature and dating requirements.
The judge said Elections Director John Lindback and his staff went through petitions with verified signatures from counties and removed some sheets because circulators failed to sign them properly.
"There appears to be no statutory or administrative rule authority for that novel action by the secretary of state," the judge said.
After Lipscomb's decision, Portland attorney Travis Diskin, a spokesman for the Oregon Nader campaign, said: "We're very happy about it."
Meanwhile, Oregon Democratic Party said it was considering an appeal of the judge's ruling.
"We think there were significant problems with the signatures they turned in," said Neel Pender, the party's executive director. "The Ralph Nader campaign misled voters and committed voter fraud."
At the same time, Pender called Nader's candidacy a "political sideshow" and predicted that Nader would draw little support from progressive voters even if he ends up on the Nov. 2 ballot.
"Progressives are supporting John Kerry. He is the only option to defeat George Bush," he said.
Kevin Neely, spokesman for Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers, said he had not yet seen the opinion and withheld comment.
In defending their actions, state election officials said that some petition circulators failed to consecutively number petitions as required by law before giving them to counties for verification of voters' signatures. And they said that some petitioners put initials on the petitions instead of signing their names as required.
At the hearing Wednesday, Lipscomb said, "It's troubling to me that you folks are so flexible with some rules and rigid with others."
Portland lawyer Dan Meek, representing Nader's Oregon campaign, argued that the state has to comply with its rules "and not make up rules on the fly."
It was not clear how larger a factor Nader would be in the vote in the Oregon, which is considered a battleground state. The independent candidate's popularity in the state seems to have faded in 2000, when his campaign visits attracted large crowds and he drew 5 percent of the state's presidential vote.
Nader's supporters turned to statewide petitioning this year after failing at two conventions in Portland to get the needed 1,000 voter signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The consumer activist had met the requirements to appear on ballots in 20 states as of Tuesday, Nader's national office said. |
Its nice to see that a person whines and he gets onto the ballot eventhough he didn't make it. Hey maybe if someone loss the presidency of this country he'll complain and whine till we give it to him just to shut up. IMO THIS IS MY OPINION SO DON'T GET ALL BENT OUT OF SHAPE!!!
|
|
|
Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
|
| Thu Sep 09, 2004 5:35 pm |
|
| Quote: | | Its nice to see that a person whines and he gets onto the ballot eventhough he didn't make it. Hey maybe if someone loss the presidency of this country he'll complain and whine till we give it to him just to shut up. IMO THIS IS MY OPINION SO DON'T GET ALL BENT OUT OF SHAPE!!! |
I agree with you, but look at all the states that are NOT admitting him on the ballot!
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
|
|
|
Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
|
| Thu Sep 09, 2004 5:37 pm |
|
Well from what I heard on KGW news he wanted on just because Kerry has a chance of winning Oregon on Nov 2nd. I think if his only reason for getting on the ballot is to sabatoge someone than its wrong. Plus I thought I heard the guy was majorly Racist I'm not sure if this is true but does anyone know if it is?
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
Star Trek �, in all its various forms, are trademarks & copyrights of Paramount Pictures
This site has no official connection with Star Trek or Paramount Pictures
Site content/Site design elements owned by Morphy and is meant to only be an archive/Tribute to STV.com
|
Search
FAQ
Log in
