Nader Sues Democratic National Committee for 2004 Dirty Tricks

Posted on by October 30, 2007
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On October 30, Ralph Nader, Peter Camejo, and six voters who wanted to vote for Nader in 2004, filed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee. The lawsuit, Nader v Democratic National Committee, 2007ca-7245B, was filed in the District of Columbia Superior Court. The complaint is 70 pages long. It details the national Democratic Party’s extensive support for challenges to Nader’s ballot positions, in states in which elections officials had accepted Nader’s petitions and placed him on the ballot. The complaint goes into great detail, including a coordinated effort to sabotage individual petition sheets in Oregon (anti-Nader activists were instructed to sign a petition sheet in the space reserved for the circulator, and then to line it out, which had the effect of ruining all the signatures already on that sheet). The complaint also talks about harassment of Nader circulators in Ohio and Oregon. The complaint also deals with incidents in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The lawsuit asks for a jury trial, in a claim for monetary damages.

Florida Court Says Write-in Candidates are Real Candidates

Posted on by October 30, 2007
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On October 29, a Florida state court ruled that a declared write-in candidate is just as much a candidate as someone who is listed on the ballot. Florida’s Constitution says that when the only candidates running for a partisan office are from the same party, and the winner of the primary will have no opposition whatsoever in the general election, then all voters (not just members of that party) may vote in that party’s primary for that particular office.

Since Florida’s major parties don’t like members of other parties voting in their primaries, they frequently recruit someone to file as a declared write-in candidate in the general election for that office. That method, described as a “loophole”, means that the special Constitutional provision doesn’t apply, since the winner of the primary will still have opposition in the general election from the write-in candidate.

In 2006, a lawsuit had been filed by a Florida voter, arguing that write-in candidates in general elections are so weak and insubstantial that they should be deemed not to exist. The case is Jacobson v Martin, Lake Co. Circuit Court, 2006-ca-1160. But the judge ruled that a write-in candidate is “opposition”, and said that a write-in candidate should not be treated as non-existent. And, in support of his conclusion, it should be noted that write-in candidates have been elected to state legislatures at general elections in 1989 (Virginia), 1990 (Rhode Island), 1994 (Kansas), 1998 (Tennessee), and 2006 (Massachusetts). Write-in candidates frequently win local office.

Senator Bill Nelson Will Ask Court to Expedite Florida Democratic Case

Posted on by October 30, 2007
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U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the ability of the National Democratic Party to strip the Florida Democratic Party of its delegates to the national convention, will ask the U.S. District Court to expedite his lawsuit. The case is pending in the Northern District of Florida, and is called Nelson v Dean, no. 4:07-cv-427. Nelson’s request will be filed on October 31. Thanks to Professor Franco Mattei for this news.

New York State Highest Court Will Hear Case on Local Parties v State Organizations

Posted on by October 30, 2007
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On October 18, the New York State Court of Appeals agreed to hear Master v Pohanka. This case concerns a dispute between the state organization of the Working Families Party, and the Suffolk County Working Families Party. The issue is whether a state party may have a bylaw taking power over nominations away from the county party and placing it in the hands of the state party.

The Independence Party has a similar case pending in the State Court of Appeals, called Conroy v Independence Party of New York State. The State Court of Appeals hasn’t accepted that case yet, but in any event the decision in the Working Families Party will settle the issue for both parties.