Nader to try new way to make ballot

SALEM, Ore. – Worried that Ralph Nader’s most recent attempt to qualify for the Oregon presidential ballot might fail, his backers are switching tactics – but they are running out of time.

At a one-day convention in Portland on June 26, under state election law Nader needed 1,000 signatures to make it onto the state’s presidential ballot.

The assembly attracted about 1,150 people, but Nader’s backers are worried they won’t be able to come up with 1,000 valid signatures from among those who attended.

As a fall-back position, his Oregon campaign said Monday it is about to try another option available under state law – a petition effort across the state to gather 15,000 signatures for his independent candidacy, or 18,900 signatures for him to form a new party that could nominate him for the ballot.

The 15,000-signature option is legally questionable, however, because Nader’s running mate, Peter Camejo, is a member of the Green Party. Under that option of Oregon law, both Nader and his running mate are supposed to be political independents.

Either way, time will be tight for the Nader campaign.

Candidates have until Aug. 24 to qualify for the Oregon ballot. But Nader would have to get the signatures in to election officials even earlier, to give them time to verify the signatures.

Greg Kafoury, Nader’s Oregon campaign spokesman, concedes it’s a tight timeline. But he predicts Nader will prevail.

“Ralph Nader is going to be on the Oregon ballot this fall,” he said.

Nader has been trying since April to qualify for the Oregon ballot, so far without success.

His first attempt was on April 6, where he tried to gather the needed 1,000 signatures at his first convention in Portland. The event drew only about 750 people.

Kafoury said at least 1,000 signatures were gathered during the June 26 convention, but he refused to be more specific.

Nader’s candidacy appears to be losing support in a state that was once one of his strongholds.

Both major parties view Nader as a potential spoiler who could draw votes away from Democrat John Kerry and help President Bush in Oregon this fall.

Oregon Democratic Party Chairman Jim Edmunson said, however, that it is becoming increasingly evident that Nader doesn’t have the support around Oregon to even qualify for the ballot.

“It’s obvious that Mr. Nader has less support today in Oregon than he had four years ago,” Edmunson said. “Voters are keenly aware of the significance of this election. They see this race as a referendum on George Bush, not Ralph Nader.”

Democrats have won Oregon in the past four presidential elections, but Democrat Al Gore won by just 6,700 votes out of more than 1.5 million cast in 2000.

Nader drew 5 percent of the Oregon vote in 2000, but veteran pollsters say fear of his spoiler role likely would shrink his Oregon vote to 2-3 percent this time.