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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (201046)	9/9/2004 1:57:00 PM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574302

Good news: Nader off the ballot in Florida By BILL COTTERELL Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat In a tactical victory for John Kerry, a Leon County circuit judge issued an emergency order Wednesday night knocking Ralph Nader off Florida's ballot. "I've never seen, in 40 years, a more pell-mell kangaroo court procedure involving any of our third-party activities," Nader told the Tallahassee Democrat after the ruling by Judge Kevin Davey. "This is nothing more than a judge responding to the political imperatives of a nervous and corrupt Democratic Party." The ruling stands for now, but could be reversed later. Nader drew about 92,000 votes in Florida four years ago. Democratic Party leaders, who unsuccessfully beseeched him not to run this year, have said that many of those voters would have supported Al Gore if Nader wasn't on the ballot. Supporters of President Bush, who won Florida by a disputed 537-vote margin, have helped Nader qualify for ballot position in some states this year. Nader said he would appeal Davey's ruling and move the case to federal court, if necessary. Less than 11 hours before Secretary of State Glenda Hood is supposed to certify the ballots for 67 counties - which signals elections supervisors to mail thousands of ballots to Floridians overseas, including troops in Iraq - Davey ruled that the Reform Party is no longer a real political party. Therefore, he held that Nader's certification as the Reform candidate did not meet Florida laws, which require a presidential candidate to get nearly 100,000 voter signatures or be nominated by a national convention. "I don't want to disenfranchise anybody, especially those folks who are defending us overseas," Davey said, stretching and stifling a yawn after a seven-hour hearing in which attorneys for Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox and two Reform Party members squared off against lawyers for Hood and the Reform Party of Florida. Hood is supposed to certify the general-election ballots to the counties at 9 a.m. today. It's conceivable the ballot could be certified without Nader's name, and corrected later if another court reverses Davey. The judge said there was ample evidence that the party Texas billionaire Ross Perot once headed is barely "a skeleton of its former self," with almost no money, only a handful of candidates in a few states and no influence on issues. But Davey said the basis of his ruling was a long list of legal precedents mandating ballot-qualification rules "must be strictly complied with." Attorneys Ed Stafman and Michael Olin, representing Maddox and Reform Party members Alan Hermann of Broward County and Candice Wilson of Pinellas County, said the party has been "hijacked" by a small fringe of members. They said fewer than 65 Reform Party members held a teleconference on May 11 and designated Nader in a few states, including Florida, and then fewer than 50 delegates to a "working convention" in Irving, Texas, ratified that choice in August - for the sole purpose of meeting Florida's requirement of a national convention. "There are more people in this room right now, Your Honor, than there were on that phone call that nominated Ralph Nader in May," Olin told Davey. "We in this room could hold a meeting and nominate a candidate for president, then send out for beer and pizzas - but we would not have the right to get that person on the Florida ballot." Maddox, the Democratic chairman, said Gov. Jeb Bush and Hood made a decision "tinged with politics" when they accepted Nader's certification by the Reform group. Maddox said Nader's Reform candidacy was "a sham" that was quicker than getting the required petition signatures. "The bottom line is, we welcome all lawful, qualified candidates on the ballot," Maddox said. "But the rules should be the same for everyone and his 'party' did not qualify the right way." But Assistant Attorney General George Waas and Richard Perez, a lawyer for Hood's department, said Davey risked "disenfranchising" voters who support Nader. Waas said it was dangerous for a court to "intrude on party affairs" and consider how much money a party has to have, how many other states must give it ballot position, how many members it needs or how its convention must be conducted. "It's a Hobson's choice, a Solomonic decision and it's also a slippery slope," Waas told Davey. "But once it's done here, it's done." Davey asked lawyers to meet today and set a time for a hearing on the merits of the case. His preliminary injunction blocks Hood from certifying the ballot for the Nov. 2 election only until a hearing is held - and further appeals are made. "I realize I'm only the first bus stop on a route to - well, somewhere," Davey said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------