Obama and McCain Thrown off Texas Ballot?
Libertarian candidate Bob Barr is using legalese to throw out both Obama and McCain from the Texas ballot because both parties missed the state deadline to register presidential & vice-presidential names to appear on the ballot. The Dallas Morning News reports,
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.
Sounds like the legal tactics Obama pulled when he applied for his first State Senate seat, right? Apparently Libertarians are dishing out similar litigation they (and other third party candidates) have received over the years from Democrats and Republicans alike.
Ultimately at issue is the validity of the two-party system. Currently, Libertarians are fighting to get on the November ballot in Maine, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma. The Constitution Party is litigating in Pennsylvania courts to get on the Ballot. The Green Party is fighting in Alaska. Expect to see multiple third party Presidential candidates on your ballot from the Libertarians “Barr/Root”, Constitution Party “Baldwin/Castle”, Independent (sometime called Nader’s Party) “Nader/Gonzalez”, and Green Party “McKinney(yes, that’s CYNTHIA)/Clemente.”
Considering the late date of both Republican & Democratic Conventions this year, the late registration isn’t surprising. Both campaigns should have been aware of the state requirements. At the minimum, Barr has as valid a point as Obama did in his first state campaign (where Obama invalidated thousands of signatures because they were printed, not in cursive). It’s a little surprising that among Obama’s vast army of attorney’s, this technicality slipped by - perhaps they were all busy running for cover from caribou in Alaska.
Despite this ballot kerfuffle, Texas voters will likely see Obama & McCain on the ballot come November. Both Democrat & Republican parties have an advocate in the attorney general and the final decision lies with the Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade, who has “discretion on the ballot and its appearance.”
