|
Obama and McCain Miss Texas Ballot Deadline
If the names of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain and Sarah Palin appear on the ballot in Texas this year, it appears they will do so contrary to the laws of Texas. It seems that in their desire to put their conventions on at the very end of August and beginning of September, the two main US political parties held their nominating votes too late to get their candidates on the ballot.
The law is very clear. It reads:
A political party is entitled to have the names of its nominees for president and vice-president of the United States placed on the ballot in a presidential general election if . . . before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before presidential election day, the party's state chair signs and delivers to the secretary of state a written certification of the names of the party's nominees for president and vice-president . . .
The 70th day was the day before Mr. Obama was formally nominated. It was a full week after that that Mr. McCain’s got his party’s nod certified. Texas has 34 electoral votes, and if neither is on the ballot, there is an outside chance the election could be thrown into the House of Representatives. So, the two big parties will find a way to sneak them on.
The way they will probably do that is by deciding that the people of Texas are voting for electors rather than for president and vice-president. Technically, that is the truth. The electors' names would appear with party affiliation. It would require a bit of effort to educate the voters of the state, but palm cards can do the job.
What is funny is that Libertarian candidate Bob Barr filed on time and is on the ballot. He has threatened “serious legal action” if the other parties get on the ballot. As a former congressman, and therefore deal-maker, it might be in his interests to drop his legal challenge in exchange for a place in the presidential debates. Expect the Democrats to back it and the GOP to cry “foul.”
© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.
Kensington Review Home
|
|
|