The Nader campaign has abandoned efforts to get Nader on the Arizona presidential ballot. According to the Associated Press, even though the Campaign submitted over 22,000 signatures the campaign was about 550 short of the 14,694 required "valid" signatures:
Similar Democratic efforts in Florida caused the Florida Republican Party to accuse Democrats of hypocrisy by scrutinizing Ralph Nader's efforts to get on the presidential ballot:Two Democratic voters had filed a lawsuit last week, backed by the Arizona Democratic Party, questioning the validity of Nader's nominating petitions and other documents. The Democrats argued that more than 70 percent of the signatures were invalid.
As a judge prepared to hear arguments in the case, the campaign said a review by the secretary of state's office found that the campaign was about 550 signatures short of the number needed to get on the ballot.
"We withdrew after elections officials came out with us being 550 signatures short," said Nader campaign spokesman Kevin Zeese. "There's no question that deep-pocketed Democrats don't have much of a sense of fair play."
He said the campaign does not have the resources to fight the aggressive legal challenge.
"Democrats are quick to use the issue of voter disenfranchisement to their benefit and yet have no problem unleashing their legal sharks on Ralph Nader," said GOP state Chairman Carol Jean Jordan in a statement.
In Oregon, Democrats physically blocked people who were trying to sign Nader's petition. The Democrats truly are the 'conservative' party, trying to preserve the status quo at all costs.
Posted by: John Doe | Tuesday, July 06, 2004 at 02:01 AM