An update on Texas
September 5th, 2008 by Jason PyeThe campaign has been following the ballot issue in Texas concerning Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. As you know, Ballot Access News reported that neither the Democratic or Republican parties filed paperwork on time to meet the necessary statutory requirements which are clear set forth in Texas election law.
If a Libertarian Party candidate had filed, even a few minutes late, it is very likely that a challenge would be filed and that candidate would be removed from the ballot. We know that Libertarian Party candidates aren’t safe even when we have followed the letter of the law. The actions of the McCain campaign in Pennsylvania is a perfect example of that.
Here is a statement on the situation in Texas issued by the campaign early this morning.
The Bob Barr presidential campaign has stated “serious legal consequences” will occur should Senators Barack Obama and John McCain be allowed on the Texas general election ballot after they knowingly missed the state’s deadline to file.
According to documents obtained by the Barr campaign, neither John McCain nor Barack Obama complied with Texas Election Code § 192.031, which requires that filings must be submitted “before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before presidential Election Day,” listing the “names of the party’s nominees for president and vice-president.”
“The Election Code of the State of Texas imposes requirements on a political party, which must be met if its candidates for president and vice-presidents are to appear on the general election ballot,” Russell Verney, Bob Barr’s campaign manager stated in a letter sent to the Texas Secretary of State’s office. “The Democratic Party and Mr. Obama, and the Republican Party and Mr. McCain, blatantly ignored the Texas statutory deadline.”
The deadline, which was set at 5 p.m. on August 26, passed before Sen. Obama was nominated and before Sen. McCain had even selected his running mate.
“The law is clear, and it was clearly not followed,” says Verney. “The Texas Supreme Court was emphatic when it stated that the law ‘does not allow political parties or candidates to ignore statutory deadlines . . .’ Senators Obama and McCain did not file by the deadline; therefore, Texas should abide by the laws it created. No political party or candidate is above the law.”
You can read campaign filings from Obama and McCain here and a letter from Russ Verney to the Texas Secretary of State here.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:21 am
AWESOME. YES . WE MUST SUE AND MAKE A FEDERAL CASE OF IT. WE MUST NOTLOSE THIS OPPORTUNITY AND E MUST DO IT QUICKLY.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:28 am
This could be big for “third parties” in general. Imagine a ticket where there is no one from any of the two “major parties” available to be voted for. This could very well be big both for the Libertarians and the other third parties out there. This could allow at least in one state a vote that shows how many people actually support some or all of the ideals of third parties. There is a possiblity that this could be bigger than anyone may think. That of course is assuming they just don’t toss the law out the window. It wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened either.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Please do not let up on this! Let us know what we can do. Yes, we can all give financial support, but there’s got to be more direct action as well. There are so many priorities for Bob Barr now…ballot access in all states, and getting into the presidential debates…but the Texas situation must remain in the top three. Be firm in the legalalities, but we must be polite and respectful too…our image is at stake, if the major media gets a hold of this. We want to look good…and show that we are good! This could be the first large-scale free media publicity we get, and we don’t want to look like sour-pusses, so to speak. I know, it’s not fair, but let’s show how firm, respectful, and polite our Party can be! Keep this up, let us know what to do, and keep the updates coming!
September 5th, 2008 at 11:50 am
In an election based on change, do you think it is in the best interest of the Libertarian party to take on the role of victim and spend their time and energy complaining about Texas? The party knows full well that what has happened (or hasn’t happened in this case) will not matter in this election nor favorably improve Barr’s chances one iota. Do you want to be “right”, or do you want to win an election?
I believe most people share a belief system very similar to that of the Libertarian party. You should focus on what’s right with this belief system and less on the “woe is me” factor.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
From what I understand neither Obama or McCain were required to comply to the deadline, unfortunately.
“The August 26 deadline is for independent and third party candidates. — Texas Election Code - Section 192.031
Since the D’s and the R’s nominate by convention, and those parties have each had “a nominee for a statewide office who received a number of votes equal to at least five percent of the total number of votes received by all candidates for that office,” Texas Election Code Section 181.005 applies.
Section 181.005 states:
A political party is entitled to have the names of its nominees placed on the ballot, without qualifying under Subsection (a), in each subsequent general election following a general election in which the party had a nominee for a statewide office who received a number of votes equal to at least five percent of the total number of votes received by all candidates for that office.”
Both the Republicans and Democrats had candidates for statewide office in 2006 who garnered more than 5% of the vote for that office (several, actually). Therefore, both parties automatically qualify and don’t have to separately qualify by submitting names arrived at by convention by any particular date. Too bad…..it would have been nice to have only Barr on the ballot for Texas.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Barr should bring this up every time he is on TV
September 5th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
As soon as a serious lawsuit to challenge this is underway, I’ll be sending a donation.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I wish we could comment on the press release about the $1 billion Cheney just promised to support the eastern Strongman Saakashvili, propping him up in his war against the Ossetian people.
This is a CLASSIC error in judgement, that we have done repeatedly over the years, propping up government, and in a democratic world, propping up one political party unfairly interfering in another countries democratic process, allowing that person to compete against opposing sides that would have otherwise one.
In otherwords, Saakashvili was heading for certain defeat in the next election, and we are propping him up BIG TIME. with AMERICAN TAXPAYER MONEY. Europe is only loaning money, we are giving it away…$10 trillion in debt, lets throw away another $1 billion.
Bob Barr’s analysis was unique, there was no understanding of this issue from Obama or McCain.
WHEW… I completely disagree with making an issue over ballot access laws, but I guess if you can get in there and get a court victory, thats going to force national media attention…bad as it will be, one sided, making us look like the problem, not the solution, still…
Because you are the only candidate worth a darn, I wholeheartedly support you, and will even send in more money, even if I disagree on this point, I don’t care, overall Bob Barr is gold, pure gold in the political sphere.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Jason: The idea that the August 26th deadline only applies to alternative candidates is a fallacy. It’s someone trying to present a guess as fact.
And 181.005 also fails to exempt them, regardless of how it might appear at first blush. We fleshed out this issue in great detail last week when it first cropped up.
Barr Campaign: Mere threat of legal action creates a situation that’s tenuous at best. In order to maintain legal timeliness for presenting the case and also to allow the Texas SoS ample time to ensure their removal from the ballot a case should probably be filed immediately.
September 5th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I wish we didn’t have to have pissing matches with each other. What do states have against allowing ALL candidates to be on the ballot? Why don’t states want their citizens fairly represented by any and all possible candidates nominated by their appropriate parties?
For those of us/you supporting Bob Barr, or any third party candidate, good for you! You are the ones that see the bigger picture which will eventually lead us out of our failed winner-take-all, two-party, “I win, so you lose” system.
September 5th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Hey all, I wanted to share an idea I had for helping spread word of Bob’s campaign. It’s a little unorthodox, but hear me out: headvertising.
The theory is that men and women active in the campaign, if willing, will get their heads shaved and sport the “Barr ‘08″ logo and the website URL on the backs of their heads. It’s bound to draw attention, and the message may just reach a few people.
Anyway, it’s just a thought, and a weird one at that. But I thought I’d toss it out there and see what reactions it gets.
September 5th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
You may want to check out Iowa as well. It looks like the deadline was 81 days before the election here. I wonder how many other states are like this.
September 5th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I’ve looked through the Forms the the Dems and GOP submitted, and aside from the GOP saying “McCain and running mate”, they appear to be in order, and the dates are before 8/29.
Is there something that I’m missing, or are we urinating into the wind here?
September 5th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Justin, Yes you are missing something. The deadline was August 26th. We also had a huge debate about this whole issue last week and scrutinized the ballot law down to every punctuation mark. Our legal standing on this issue is solid. The (D)s and (R)s have broken the law.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I’m going to continue to assume that the only reason this hasn’t been taken to CNN, Fox, or MSNBC is because the official campaign wants to be absolutely sure that they have a workable case in Texas first. I know I shouldn’t be holding my breath for the MSM to pick up on this, but I can imagine the support boost the campaign would get.
For now, I google terms like “Barr, Texas, Ballot” and all I get are a few libertarian blogs.
So, I’ll donate when the lawsuit is officially announced. I want to be sure that the campaign has faith in their evidence, so far as to warrant pursuing those “serious legal consequences.”
September 5th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
We have notified all media outlets.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
That may be the media’s stance.
September 6th, 2008 at 7:12 am
I would urge everyone to donate whatever they can and not hold back pending the lawsuit determination.
Serious campaigns need all the resources they can get and the flexiblility to move quickly with changing circumstances.
Besides a potential lawsuit, Bob has many other needs across this country to get his message out/he’s working on ballot access in other states (according to the LP website Minnesota is up next/a key battleground state) and spreading his message in at least 41 states where he is on the ballot.
September 6th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
This could be big! Hopefully it will open the door to more national public exposure and recognition of third parties. If Bob Barr is allowed to participate in the debates with equal time to respond… who knows how far this could go to break the sordid grip of the party giants!
September 6th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I’ve personally sent information about this story to several media outlets including CNN and FOX. None of them will touch this story with a ten foot poll or even acknowledge that it exists. This is the smoking gun of proof that all the major media is in the pockets of the two-party system! And I know we must have a solid case here, cause if we didn’t you know that both sides would jump all over this story as an opportunity to call us Libertarians all kooks and nut-cases. But they won’t even comment on it just to say that we don’t have a case, because they know that if the public starts looking at it closely then they will know what a scam the two-party is trying to pull in Texas.
September 15th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I just visited the TX Sec of State website, and it lists McCain and Obama… so what is the deal’o here? As an LP Electorate for Bob Barr in Minnesota I know exactly how demanding the law can be for getting a candidate on the ballot, I have no doubt that if the LP party missed a deadline our candidate would NOT be on the ballot come Nov 4th.