FIJIFan
09-18-2008, 04:42 PM
I guess all the arguments in R&P will be moot if this happens!
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/091908dntexbarrballot.8b61581c.html
Libertarian Bob Barr moves to keep Obama, McCain off Texas ballot 1:29 PM CT
01:30 PM CDT on Thursday, September 18, 2008
By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News
choppe@dallasnews.com (choppe@dallasnews.com)
AUSTIN – Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr is forcing a legal showdown in the Texas Supreme Court to keep the names of Barack Obama and John McCain off the November ballot.
The issue is whether both parties missed a state deadline to certify the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates for the ballot. The attorney general is arguing the law was followed and that the secretary of state has discretion on the ballot and its appearance.
Mr. Barr personally filed an emergency request before the court on Thursday, asking that the state be ordered not to mail ballots overseas this weekend until the issue is legally resolved.
“We are here today to establish very clearly that there is at least one political party out there that stands for the rule of law,” said Mr. Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia who was a leader in the Bill Clinton impeachment.
The Libertarians are contending that the Democratic and Republican nominees are disqualified from appearing on the ballot because they missed the state’s Aug. 26 deadline to certify candidates. During the national conventions, Mr. Obama was not voted as the nominee until Aug. 27 and Mr. McCain claimed the GOP nomination on Sept. 3.
No one can legally certify something that has not yet happened, Mr. Barr argued. In addition, Sarah Palin was not named to the GOP ticket until Aug. 29 and so it would be impossible to certify her name by the deadline.
The Libertarians claim that both major parties knew of the late conventions and did not go to either the Legislature or the courts to seek a remedy.
The Supreme Court has refused to dismiss the case outright and has asked all parties to file their response to the lawsuit by Monday.
Part of the legal basis for the suit is Bush vs. Gore, by which the U.S. Supreme Court held that “the clearly expressed intent of the legislature must prevail,” and that election laws must be uniformly applied and interpreted.
“Sound familiar Mr. Bush? Sound familiar Republicans?” Mr. Barr said, adding that the state law is unambiguous.
“The Libertarian Party like other parties and independent candidates always face a struggle to get on the ballot and are sometimes excluded from the ballot for the most minor of details,” said state party chairman Patrick Dixon. “We may not like the rules, but we have to play by them.”
Both the Democrats and the Republicans said they have taken the necessary steps to have their candidates on the ballot.
“Quite frankly, I find it very ironic that those in the Libertarian Party, who have in the past been champions of ballot access, are now making attempts to limit that access here in Texas,” said Democratic Party chairman Boyd Richie.
“It is clear this is a politically motivated stunt by Bob Barr and his party, and a desperate attempt by a candidate to obtain media coverage,” he said.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/091908dntexbarrballot.8b61581c.html
Libertarian Bob Barr moves to keep Obama, McCain off Texas ballot 1:29 PM CT
01:30 PM CDT on Thursday, September 18, 2008
By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News
choppe@dallasnews.com (choppe@dallasnews.com)
AUSTIN – Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr is forcing a legal showdown in the Texas Supreme Court to keep the names of Barack Obama and John McCain off the November ballot.
The issue is whether both parties missed a state deadline to certify the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates for the ballot. The attorney general is arguing the law was followed and that the secretary of state has discretion on the ballot and its appearance.
Mr. Barr personally filed an emergency request before the court on Thursday, asking that the state be ordered not to mail ballots overseas this weekend until the issue is legally resolved.
“We are here today to establish very clearly that there is at least one political party out there that stands for the rule of law,” said Mr. Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia who was a leader in the Bill Clinton impeachment.
The Libertarians are contending that the Democratic and Republican nominees are disqualified from appearing on the ballot because they missed the state’s Aug. 26 deadline to certify candidates. During the national conventions, Mr. Obama was not voted as the nominee until Aug. 27 and Mr. McCain claimed the GOP nomination on Sept. 3.
No one can legally certify something that has not yet happened, Mr. Barr argued. In addition, Sarah Palin was not named to the GOP ticket until Aug. 29 and so it would be impossible to certify her name by the deadline.
The Libertarians claim that both major parties knew of the late conventions and did not go to either the Legislature or the courts to seek a remedy.
The Supreme Court has refused to dismiss the case outright and has asked all parties to file their response to the lawsuit by Monday.
Part of the legal basis for the suit is Bush vs. Gore, by which the U.S. Supreme Court held that “the clearly expressed intent of the legislature must prevail,” and that election laws must be uniformly applied and interpreted.
“Sound familiar Mr. Bush? Sound familiar Republicans?” Mr. Barr said, adding that the state law is unambiguous.
“The Libertarian Party like other parties and independent candidates always face a struggle to get on the ballot and are sometimes excluded from the ballot for the most minor of details,” said state party chairman Patrick Dixon. “We may not like the rules, but we have to play by them.”
Both the Democrats and the Republicans said they have taken the necessary steps to have their candidates on the ballot.
“Quite frankly, I find it very ironic that those in the Libertarian Party, who have in the past been champions of ballot access, are now making attempts to limit that access here in Texas,” said Democratic Party chairman Boyd Richie.
“It is clear this is a politically motivated stunt by Bob Barr and his party, and a desperate attempt by a candidate to obtain media coverage,” he said.