On September 7, two Republicans sued the Colorado Secretary of State, alleging that the Secretary of State should not have permitted the Constitution Party to nominate Tancredo. See this story. A hearing will be held in state court on September 13. The case is Olson v Buescher, 10-cv-4180.
As a general rule I’m all in favor of having more candidates on the ballot. Having said that …
Some of the claims against the Constitution Party are that “the American Constitution Party’s five-member executive committee waived a bylaws’ requirement that Tancredo had to be a party member for six months prior to being nominated its candidate,” and that “the committee also waived the requirement that Tancredo not be registered with another party.”
As far as I know, anything that is part of the bylaws cannot be “waived” or suspended unless a procedure is specifically provided for that to be so.
Did the Constitution Party violate its own constitution (bylaws)? How ironic that would be.
I’m starting to see a trend here. Why do I have a feeling the GOP is in for some major problems in 2012?
Yeah, I’m seeing a trend too:
Illinois GOP behaving like Chicago Democrats
http://republicannewswatch.com/wp/?p=7615
AND
Republican Runs Street People on Green Ticket
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/us/politics/07candidates.html
… Just to name a few!
The Constitution Party bylaws do provide that the party officers can waive the duration of membership rule. That is why, when the Tancredo candidacy first became public, Republican Party attorneys investigated and determined the nomination was legal. That is also why the state chair of the Colorado Republican Party continues to say that he believes Tancredo is on the ballot legally.
The thing that I don’t get is why do the ruling parties think playing these games with the opposition parties benefits THEM? I’m not going to vote for these people anyway and when they keep pulling stuff like this they are just making dangerous enemies for them selves.
The lawsuit won’t fly.
And another thing, IMO, some of our state affiliates have bylaws for running for office that are too strict and hurt party growth, such parties ought to drop such BS guidelines.
In response to Chip @ #1 – if the American Constitution Party bylaws were violated, it should be up to members of the ACP to sue over that issue, not Republicans.
Point taken, Republicans need to stay the f*ck out of our business, unless they only want to sober up and join us.