Posted on 10/21/2004 7:43:46 PM PDT by sandalwood
WASHINGTON - Ralph Nader (news - web sites) asked the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) on Thursday to place him on the general election ballot in Pennsylvania, a battleground state expected to be critical in the outcome of the Nov. 2 presidential election.
In a sign the high court planned to move swiftly, Justice David H. Souter immediately requested that Pennsylvania officials file a response to Nader's emergency request by 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Nader's late-evening filing asks the Supreme Court to review Pennsylvania's decision to remove the independent candidate because of legal problems with his nomination papers that left him thousands of signatures short of the number required.
He argued that Pennsylvania courts improperly excluded signatures from more than 15,000 Pennsylvania residents who are not registered to vote, saying such a requirement is a violation of First Amendment rights of expression and association.
"The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision, if not stayed and reversed, has the effect of disenfranchising thousands of Pennsylvania voters by denying the access of presidential candidates to the ballot," the filing states.
On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the finding of flawed signatures on voter petition sheets, which a lower court called "rife with forgeries." The lower court determined that fewer than 19,000 of the more than 51,000 signatures submitted were valid; Nader needs at least 25,697 to be listed on the ballot.
Nader's filing asks the Supreme Court to put him on the ballot while it considers whether to hear an appeal of the Pennsylvania ruling.
Democrats wanted to keep Nader off the Pennsylvania ballot because they fear he could pull votes away from Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) and give President Bush (news - web sites) the advantage in their closely fought race for the state's 21 electoral votes, the nation's fifth-largest prize.
In 2000, Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) carried Pennsylvania, beating Republican Bush by fewer than 205,000 votes out of 4.9 million cast. Nader, the Green Party nominee that year, received 103,392 votes.
Overall, Nader will be on the ballot in 34 states and the District of Columbia.
1) The military currently have ballots with Nader's name on them, and Rendell is threatening to throw all military ballots out because they were printed before Nader lost his case; and
2) The obvious Nader factor, although I don't know how many people will actually pull the lever for him.
Actually, it's really just #1 I'm worried about
ping
Agreed.
Any vote that is NOT a vote for sKerry is a vote for Bush. I'll take it regardless of Ralphie's short-comings!!!
If Nader can stay on the ballot, then all the military ballots get counted.
Period.
Correction: those who vote for Kerry or Nader are certifiably insane! Voting for Bush is the only sensible thing to do ipso facto all other choices are looney :)
What I meant was that the military already have the ballots with Nader's name on them. Since PA didn't have time to re-print them w/o Nader's name after he lost his appeal, Rendell has threatened to throw out any ballots received that have Nader's name, NO MATTER WHOSE NAME IS CHECKED.
Obviously, Rendell assumes the majority will be for Bush, and is willing to throw out the baby with the bath water to disenfranchise our brave men and women.
If Nader remains on the ballot, however, those ballots will have to be counted.
Amen.
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