nadar illinois ballot struggle.

[mopinko]

things are looking dim for ralphie in illinois. this went out on a peace listserve that i belong to. any idiot knows that you have to turn in at least twice the required signatures to make sure that you survive the challenges. the crying about being challenged, and forced to adhere to the letter of the law to get on the ballot are making me sicker than ANYTHING that has some out of the nadar camp so far.

******************

Attention Illinois Nader supporters:

As it stands right now, we have handed
in 36,581 signatures to the state, well
above the 25,000 required to gain
ballot access in Illinois. Now we need
to defend those signatures against an
undemocratic challenge by the Democratic
Party. We have hired a lawyer to
represent the campaign, but *we also
need your help now*. We will need as
many volunteers as possible this
Wednesday for preliminary work - or, if
the case is announced right away by the
hearing officer, for the actual process
of defending the signatures of people
who want Ralph on the ballot. Here is
where to go on Wednesday to help keep
Ralph on the ballot in Illinois:

Cook County Clerk Office
69 W. Washington Center
5th Floor
Chicago, IL 60602
We will meet sometime between
8:00 and 9:00 am

Call Christina Tobin at either
[phone] or at [phone] for
specific details on when and where to
meet. There is a chance you will need to
meet at the Thompson Center which is just
down the street from the Cook County
Clerk Office. Be sure to get in touch
with Christina before you go so you can
meet up and defend Ralph's rightful place
on the ballot in Illinois.

This is the most crucial moment of our
campaign in Illinois. This will
determine whether or not all of that work
petitioning will pay off and whether or not
you and everyone else in Illinois will find
Mr. Nader on your ballot come election day.
I want to thank you all in advance for your
help in defending both Ralph's right to
ballot access and our democratic process as
a whole.

Sincrerely,

Jeff Gaffney

[chiburb]

1. Jeez...

And did you see Davsands piece on Champaign County?

[AntiLempa]

2. Illinois has RIDICULOUS ballot access laws

Unless you are a Republican or Democrat it is near impossible to get on Illinois ballots. In Champaign County, for instance, the Democrats are mounting a huge challenge against Greens and a Socialist candidate. Some of the challenges are so frivolous that the County Clerk made a funny comment.

To make matters worse, Illinois Democrats allowed Bush on the ballot even though the convention is after IL's deadline. To make them even worse, Champaign Democrats misfiled forms and still expected to be allowed on the ballot. They were allowed on and then they challeneged the Greens for running.

I wonder what would happen if the Democrats and Republicans had to adhere to the same ballot access requirements as everyone else. . .

[chiburb]

3. May I ask why you're here?

I have read every one of your posts in the Illinois forum and not ONCE have you said anything good about the Democratic Party. Also, a search of your posts shows nothing in any other forum.

So: what is your purpose here other than to bash Illinois Democrats?

[davsand]

4. Ding Ding Ding!!! Give that man a prize!!!

I love the misrepresentation of facts here about the Dems and the problems with their paperwork. The Dems used the paperwork provided by the GOP County Clerk to file--they even ASKED about the language in one subsection and were assured it was OK--and then the GOP challenged them.

I find that to be vastly different than the Greens filing petitions that are UNDER the required number of legal signatures (at the outset) for candidates that don't even live at the addresses they filed at.

Amazes hell out of me...


Laura