Incertonia
12-09-2004, 18:37
Bush misses Florida ballot deadline. (http://www.sptimes.com/2004/09/11/Decision2004/Did_Bush_camp_err_on_.shtml)
TALLAHASSEE - After the Florida election fiasco of 2000, the most obscure parts of state election law keep attracting attention.
The latest effort to disqualify Ralph Nader as a presidential candidate in Florida has led to renewed scrutiny of papers filed by other candidates - including President Bush.
State law sets a Sept. 1 deadline for the governor to certify a list of presidential electors for each party's candidates.
But Sept. 1 was also the day President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were being nominated at their party' convention in New York. Consequently, some of their paperwork did not arrive at state elections headquarters until Sept. 2, a day after Gov. Jeb Bush certified the candidates for president.
Paperwork problem?
No, says Secretary of State Glenda Hood's office.
Spokeswoman Jenny Nash said Friday the law is clear: The deadline applies to the governor and the list of presidential electors, not to the candidates themselves. The list of Republican electors released by Hood's office does not show a time stamp indicating when the document was received by the state.
TALLAHASSEE - After the Florida election fiasco of 2000, the most obscure parts of state election law keep attracting attention.
The latest effort to disqualify Ralph Nader as a presidential candidate in Florida has led to renewed scrutiny of papers filed by other candidates - including President Bush.
State law sets a Sept. 1 deadline for the governor to certify a list of presidential electors for each party's candidates.
But Sept. 1 was also the day President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were being nominated at their party' convention in New York. Consequently, some of their paperwork did not arrive at state elections headquarters until Sept. 2, a day after Gov. Jeb Bush certified the candidates for president.
Paperwork problem?
No, says Secretary of State Glenda Hood's office.
Spokeswoman Jenny Nash said Friday the law is clear: The deadline applies to the governor and the list of presidential electors, not to the candidates themselves. The list of Republican electors released by Hood's office does not show a time stamp indicating when the document was received by the state. You'll have to go there to read the rest of the article.
Now realize that the tone of this post is a little tongue-in-cheek, but not much. The Democratic Party has challenged the ballot status of Ralph Nader based on the fact that the Reform Party doesn't really exist as an entity anymore, but they won't challenge the Republican party's status--even as a formality--when they didn't get their paperwork done on time. If this were an oversight, that would be one thing, but the reason the Republican party was late was because they wanted their convention to be as close to the 9/11 anniversary as they could make it, and thus they crossed the expiration date.
Now make no mistake about it. If the Democratic party challenged it, and was upheld (and that's a whale of a big if in Florida), the Florida legislature could very easily pass an exception to the law and Jeb would sign it. George W. Bush will be on the ballot regardless of whether or not this is challenged, and he ought to be.
Question is--should the Democrats go through the technicalities, knowing that it won't change anything in the long run?
TALLAHASSEE - After the Florida election fiasco of 2000, the most obscure parts of state election law keep attracting attention.
The latest effort to disqualify Ralph Nader as a presidential candidate in Florida has led to renewed scrutiny of papers filed by other candidates - including President Bush.
State law sets a Sept. 1 deadline for the governor to certify a list of presidential electors for each party's candidates.
But Sept. 1 was also the day President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were being nominated at their party' convention in New York. Consequently, some of their paperwork did not arrive at state elections headquarters until Sept. 2, a day after Gov. Jeb Bush certified the candidates for president.
Paperwork problem?
No, says Secretary of State Glenda Hood's office.
Spokeswoman Jenny Nash said Friday the law is clear: The deadline applies to the governor and the list of presidential electors, not to the candidates themselves. The list of Republican electors released by Hood's office does not show a time stamp indicating when the document was received by the state.
TALLAHASSEE - After the Florida election fiasco of 2000, the most obscure parts of state election law keep attracting attention.
The latest effort to disqualify Ralph Nader as a presidential candidate in Florida has led to renewed scrutiny of papers filed by other candidates - including President Bush.
State law sets a Sept. 1 deadline for the governor to certify a list of presidential electors for each party's candidates.
But Sept. 1 was also the day President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were being nominated at their party' convention in New York. Consequently, some of their paperwork did not arrive at state elections headquarters until Sept. 2, a day after Gov. Jeb Bush certified the candidates for president.
Paperwork problem?
No, says Secretary of State Glenda Hood's office.
Spokeswoman Jenny Nash said Friday the law is clear: The deadline applies to the governor and the list of presidential electors, not to the candidates themselves. The list of Republican electors released by Hood's office does not show a time stamp indicating when the document was received by the state. You'll have to go there to read the rest of the article.
Now realize that the tone of this post is a little tongue-in-cheek, but not much. The Democratic Party has challenged the ballot status of Ralph Nader based on the fact that the Reform Party doesn't really exist as an entity anymore, but they won't challenge the Republican party's status--even as a formality--when they didn't get their paperwork done on time. If this were an oversight, that would be one thing, but the reason the Republican party was late was because they wanted their convention to be as close to the 9/11 anniversary as they could make it, and thus they crossed the expiration date.
Now make no mistake about it. If the Democratic party challenged it, and was upheld (and that's a whale of a big if in Florida), the Florida legislature could very easily pass an exception to the law and Jeb would sign it. George W. Bush will be on the ballot regardless of whether or not this is challenged, and he ought to be.
Question is--should the Democrats go through the technicalities, knowing that it won't change anything in the long run?