Ralph Nader speaks out on NC election law;

[DarkPhenyx]

http://www.indyweek.com/durham/current/election.html

This is in the current issue of "the Independant".

The Independent: I understand that North Carolina is a tough ballot access state. Could you talk about the process of trying to get on the ballot?

Ralph Nader: Well, the two parties have passed laws in the state legislature that make it very difficult for third party independent candidates, and discriminate even worse against independent candidates. So for example, an independent candidate needs to get 98,000 signatures verified; a third-party candidate needs about 58,000. Someday that will be challenged in court, because that's peculiarly unconstitutional. You have to get about 80,000, because the state officials have a practice of picking at them for trivial reasons and disqualifying them. Tennessee requires less than 300 signatures and North Carolina requires 58,000. There should be one federal standard for federal elections, not 50.

Does anyone know how many signatures you need if you belong to one of the two main parties?

[HFishbine]

1. 10,000

We needed 10,000 to get Dean on the ballot in NC.

[DarkPhenyx]

2. Is that for just the Primary

or for the General Election as well?

[HFishbine]

3. Primary - but irrelevant for major party/general election

Obviously, the winner of a major party primary doesn't need signatures to get on the general ballot. I see why you'd ask though. I guess it comes down to 10,000 signatures and win a party primary or 58,000 signatures (if Nader is correct) to get on the general ballot.

[DarkPhenyx]

4. Yup...that would be it.

I agree with Nader that we need more and better choices on the ballot. I disagree with his running this year because the stakes of the Presidentail race are too big. But that is the case in most years really. Locally, and for the other national seats, we need to bust it open and make it easier for more diverse candidates to get on the ballot.

I remember the year I voted for two women for Pres/VP when I was voting in Ohio. If these are the rules in NC, or any other state, I doubt they would have made the ballot here.

[HFishbine]

5. To make matters worse

NC doesn't count presidential write-ins. One can write in a name, but election laws don't require them to be counted -- and they are not.

[GreenInNC]

10. not quite true

If a candidate wants their write ins counted, they have to present a petition with 500 signatures from registered voters.

[Cicero]

11. In either case...

...I seriously doubt that Nader will be seen on the ballot in N.C. He wasn't on it in 2000 either. :thumbsdown:

Later,

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

6. Signatures aren't required

Because when people vote in the primary, that's just as good. Typically, the winner of the primaries gets more than the required number of signatures in the form of primary votes.

[HFishbine]

7. Typically perhaps, but not this time

Edwards got under 10,000 votes in last weeks caucus.

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031774942629&path=&s=

[GainesT1958]

8. Well, if Ralphie Boy challenges the law in court..

Expect to see LOTS of Repubs write amicus briefs in support of that challenge!:eyes:

There should be, ideally, one standard. But the problem with that is though it's a presidential election, under the guise of the Tenth Amendment, the individual states can set their own standards for running that election within their state. One reason I wouldn't want to see that changed right now--other than the fact that Ralphie Boy's presence on the ballot universally would hurt Kerry this year--is one word: Diebold. North Carolina is not on the Diebold bandwagon--yet--and probably won't be as long as there's a Democratic governor, and so a Democratically-controlled State Board of Elections. I wouldn't want Tom Delay to mandate Diebold on the all the states...and no paper trail in ANY of them!

B-)

[GreenInNC]

9. challanges in court

We (Greens and Libertarians) have been challanging the 58,000 signature requirement in court for several years.

Last year our efforts in the Legislature were stymied by our co-speakers. There was a bill to reduce the signature requirements to 15,000, the national average. The bill came out of committee with a unanimous recommondation and had a majority of the Legislators saying they would vote for it but Speakers Black and Morgan would not let it be brought to the house floor for a vote. Ain't democracy grand?