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2004 US Presidential Election
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October 14, 2004
Nader | Court throws Nader off Pennsylvania ballot

CNN: Court throws Nader off Pennsylvania ballot

A state court knocked Ralph Nader off Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot on Wednesday, citing thousands of fradulent petition signatures including “Mickey Mouse” and “Fred Flintstone.”

Describing the petitions as “rife with forgeries,” Commonwealth Court President Judge James Gardner Colins said that fewer than 19,000 of the more than 51,000 signatures that Nader’s supporters submitted were valid. Nader needed at least 25,697 to be listed on the ballot as an independent candidate.

“I am compelled to emphasize that this signature-gathering process was the most deceitful and fraudulent exercise ever perpetrated upon this court,” Colins said in a 15-page ruling that followed a two-week review in multiple courtrooms across the state.

“The conduct of the candidates, through their representatives (not their attorneys), shocks the conscience of the court,” he said. “In reviewing signatures, it became apparent that, in addition to signing names such as ‘Mickey Mouse,’ ‘Fred Flintstone,’ ‘John Kerry,’ and the ubiquitous ‘Ralph Nader,’ there were thousands of names that were created at random and then randomly assigned either existent or nonexistent addresses by the circulators.”



Posted by Laurence Simon at October 14, 2004 12:48 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Finally, he got knocked off a ballot that matters. This is a very sweet win in a key state.

Posted by: rdelephant [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 14, 2004 07:29 PM

rdelephant: This time I’ll laugh. Nader threatens to “steal” votes from Kerry, so I see your point.

And you can understand why I don’t care if Nader runs or not.

Posted by: gus3 [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 14, 2004 07:57 PM

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