On May 30, Ralph Nader filed a notice of appeal in his federal lawsuit against Hawaii ballot access law. This is a case filed in 2004. The two issues are whether Hawaii’s petition-checking procedures are constitutional, and whether it is constitutional to force an independent presidential candidate to collect six times as many signatures as are needed for an entire new party with its own primary. The U.S. District Court ruled against Nader on both points earlier this year.
Good luck. We need to fight all ballot access laws which are unfair. I guess this doesn’t include the Constitution Party ?
Technically, the Constitution Party wasn’t part of the original lawsuit; Michael Peroutka as an individual was. If only Nader appeals, it doesn’t hurt the lawsuit any. If he wins, everyone wins.
The REAL Independence Party:
http://www.hawaii-nation.org/
A political party in Hawaii must maintain a county organization in each county, and to keep its ballot status must continue to nominate candidates. In addition, independent candidates for offices other than the presidency appear on the primary ballot, and the independents must garner some support from the electorate to gain access to the presidential ballot.
Perhaps Hawaii should nominate its presidential candidats in the September primary.