Nader files as write-in candidate

BOISE – Ralph Nader filed as a write-in candidate for president in Idaho on Tuesday, though he’s continuing to press his legal challenge in court to get on the Idaho ballot.

“We’re not giving up on it, but we also need to cover our bases, in case the case isn’t decided in time or decided incorrectly,” said Kevin Zeese, spokesman for the Nader campaign.

Idaho District Judge Deborah Bail rejected Nader’s challenge two weeks ago, ruling that he’d incorrectly sued the secretary of state to challenge county clerks’ validation of signatures on his candidate petitions. But the judge, who ruled on the spot after hearing arguments from both sides, also said, “I see nothing in this record which would suggest the secretary of state has not put forth reasonable procedures. … Frankly, the factual showing is insufficient.”

Nonetheless, the campaign filed a new lawsuit against the county clerks, which is now pending in 4th District Court. However, Idaho’s election ballots already have been printed, and thousands already have cast their votes by absentee ballot. If Nader’s challenge were to succeed, all those ballots would be cast into doubt.

On Monday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal in an Arizona case, in which the Nader campaign sought to overturn a judge’s decision against granting a preliminary injunction to put Nader on the ballot. The appeals court noted that voting already had begun.

Nader ran as a write-in in Idaho in 2000, and received 12,292 votes, or 2.5 percent of the vote. That was a stronger showing than four other third-party candidates whose names were on the ballot.

Nader’s campaign charged in its court case this time that signatures on its petitions were wrongly invalidated because voters’ addresses didn’t match those on the voter registration rolls. Because Idaho allows Election Day voter registration, those voters should still be considered registered, they argued.

But Idaho long has used voters’ names and addresses to verify their voter registration.

Attorneys for the state argued that under Idaho law, voters aren’t registered until they have updated their addresses. That means those who move, and then re-register at the polls, aren’t considered registered between the move and Election Day.

Zeese said the initial court decision in Idaho this year and other unfavorable decisions on ballot access in other states’ courts are “a real shame for our country.”

“There’s public support for him – he should be on the ballot,” Zeese said. “That’s just undemocratic, it’s un-American … that we’re taking this manipulative approach to elections rather than letting the voters decide.”

Nader fell 626 signatures short of the required number of valid signatures to make the ballot by an August deadline.