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Democrats try in 17 states to keep Nader off ballot [1]
['Alan Freeman']
Date: 2004-09-22 -04:00
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Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader managed to remain on the ballot for the Nov. 2 presidential election in Wisconsin yesterday, despite the best efforts of local Democrats to have him disqualified.
But the veteran consumer advocate's effort to stand for election in as many states as possible is facing a concerted challenge across the United States, with the Democratic Party organization hiring lawyers, appearing before state election regulators and going to court in a desperate effort to keep Mr. Nader off the ballot, worried that he could once again be the spoiler in a close election race.
Many angrily blame Mr. Nader's 2000 candidacy for their Democratic candidate Al Gore's loss to George W. Bush, pointing both to New Hampshire and Florida, where Mr. Nader's support as the Green Party candidate was greater than the margin of victory for the Republican candidate.
Mr. Nader's backing has softened substantially over the past four years and many who voted for Mr. Nader say they regret their choice in 2000, but Democrats remain worried that he could siphon off enough votes to make a crucial difference in tight states such as Wisconsin, where Mr. Gore won by fewer than 6,000 votes in 2000.
Although the Nader vote appears to have declined sharply from 2000, "this election theoretically could be so close that you have to pay attention to them," said Jeff Mayers, editor of WisPolitics.com, an on-line news service that follows state politics.
In yesterday's hearing, which took place at a hall in suburban Milwaukee, members of the state elections board voted 5-4 to dismiss a bid to disqualify Mr. Nader from the ballot on largely technical grounds. Not surprisingly, the four who voted to keep him off the ballot were all Democratic Party nominees.
"It's apparent to me that the Democrats are going after him in every state," said Robert Bernhoft, a Milwaukee lawyer who argued yesterday on behalf on Mr. Nader. "This is political hardball."
Mr. Nader himself accused Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry yesterday of an organized effort to keep him off the ballot, complaining that the legal battle "has drained our time and our resources." His campaign team said it is already fighting 21 separate legal cases in 17 states to get or stay on the ballot. It has managed to get listed in 29 states, but some of these rulings are still being contested.
Mr. Nader scored 2.7 per cent of the national vote in 2000, although he scored higher in individual states, including Wisconsin. Janice Bell, a Washington-based director of Ipsos Public Affairs, said Mr. Nader was regularly running as high as 6 per cent earlier this year, but has dropped to just 2 per cent.
"He doesn't have the same draw or power as he did in 2000," she said in an interview.
Under the complex U.S. election laws, control of the actual voting system depends on each state, leaving open the possibility of drawn-out battles for ballot access in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
After yesterday's hearing in Wisconsin, state Democratic Party executive director Kim Warkentin hinted that she hasn't given up her efforts to block Mr. Nader, and is considering an appeal to the courts. She accused Mr. Nader's campaign of faking signatures on petitions while attempting to get on the ballot in other states.
Democratic efforts to keep Mr. Nader off the ballot have met with partial success in those states. Judges in New Mexico and Arkansas denied Mr. Nader access to the ballot this week, but he managed to get on in Maryland and Colorado. Last week, the Florida's Supreme Court said Mr. Nader could compete in that populous state, which was the source controversy in 2000.
While many Nader voters regret their decision in 2000, others are still mulling their options.
Richard Rathmann, 57, of Madison, Wisc., said he still can't make up his mind who to vote for.
According to Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report, relatively few Americans are actually voting for Mr. Kerry, while many more are against Mr. Bush. According to survey figures quoted by Mr. Cook at a recent seminar, 40 per cent of Democrats say they are for Mr. Kerry, but 59 per cent say they are voting against Mr. Bush. Among Republicans, 80 per cent say they are backing Mr. Bush and just 14 per cent say they are voting against Mr. Kerry.
Split decision
In a tight presidential race, the effect of third-party vote-splitting can be magnified. In the 2000 election, there were eight states in which at least one third-party candidate's vote total was greater than the difference in votes between Democratic candidate Al Gore and Republican candidate George w. Bush, creating uncertainty about who would have won a two-candidate race.
.................Electoral................................Ralph............Pat
.................College.................................Nader.......Buchanan
State..............votes......Gore.........Bush.........(Green).......(Reform)
Florida..............25....2,912,253....2,912,790........97,488..........17,484
Indiana.............12......638,517......634,373.....did not run.........16,959
Maine...............4.......319,951.....286,616.........37,127............4,443
Minnesota.........10.....1,168,266...1,109,659.......126,696..........22,186
New Hampshire...4.......266,348.....273,559.........22,198............2,615
New Mexico.......5.......286,783.....286,417.........21,251...........1,392
Oregon.............7........720,342.....713,577.........77,357...........7,063
Wisconsin.........11......1,242,987...1,237,279........94,070..........11,446
Note: Countrywide, Gore won 51,003,894 votes and Bush 50,459,211, but Bush won the Electoral College vote 271-266.
SOURCE: WORLD ALMANAC
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