On October 30, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin will debate each other at the Cleveland (Ohio) City Club, between 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm. The City Club is at 850 Euclid Ave, on the 2nd floor. All three participants have confirmed they will be there. Cynthia McKinney, Barack Obama, and John McCain are also invited.
On October 29, the 6th circuit ruled that the U.S. Constitution prohibits Ohio from banning out-of-state circulators. Nader v Blackwell, 07-4350. Here is the decision. The vote is 3-0, although because of various peculiarities about procedures in this case, each judge wrote separately. Here is a Cincinnati newspaper story about the decision. Thanks to Carter Momberger for the link.
This case has its roots in the 2004 election, when Nader was prevented from being on the ballot because four of his most active circulators seemed not to be domiciled in Ohio. Therefore, all of their signatures had been stricken, and Nader fell below the 5,000 minimum. Technically, this case was filed in 2006, not in 2004, but for all practical purposes it should be considered a resolution of a conflict that began in 2004.
Although Brian Moore this year had won in U.S. District Court against Ohio’s residency requirement, that decision actually did not invalidate the ban on out-of-state circulators. The Ohio ban on out-of-state circulators for independent candidates is not stated explicitly in the law. Instead, the Ohio law requires circulators of independent petitions to be registered voters, and since one may not be a registered voter without being an Ohio resident, the twin requirements are linked in the law. Today’s decision explicitly says that even if Ohio were to amend its law and say that only residents may circulate, that would be as unconstitutional as saying only registered voters may circulate. The decision says on page 14, “No case has been put forward in this litigation as to a compelling state interest in permitting unregistered Ohioans to circulate petitions but not unregistered citizens of other states.” Thanks to Theresa Amato for this news.
Late Tuesday night, Socialist Party presidential candidate Brian Moore was on the Stephen Colbert show. See this article (written before the interview) from Moore’s home town newspaper in Florida.
Here is the excerpt from Comedy Central:
In September, the Socialist Equality Party announced that it is running Jerry White for president, and Bill Van Auken for vice-president. The Socialist Equality Party, and its predecessor organization, the Workers League, placed a presidential candidate on the ballot in some states in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2004. However, the party took no steps to get on the ballot in any state in 2008, and it seemed the 2008 campaign was purely symbolic. Now, however, the ticket has filed for write-in status in New York state, so it will get some recorded votes.
On October 29, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette endorsed Richard Carroll for the State House, district 39. Carroll is the Green Party nominee. Here is the editorial.
