Nader helper accused of trying to sell signatures

Kirsten Searer

Friday, July 9, 2004 | 11:17 a.m.

A former supporter of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader tried to sell 14,456 signatures he had gathered to put Nader on the ballot, state Democratic Party officials said.

On Thursday, the day Nader supporters filed petitions to put him on Nevada's ballot, state Democratic officials said they received e-mails from a man who allegedly thought Democrats could be motivated to buy the signatures -- and keep Nader off the ballot.

Many Democrats believe Nader was the spoiler in the 2000 election and could draw votes away from presumed Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

But Jon Summers, a spokesman for the Nevada Democratic Party, said the party turned down the former Nader supporter and notified the state attorney general's office.

"We weren't comfortable with the offer," he said. "We weren't sure of its legalities."

The signature gatherer, Assembly candidate Stan Vaughan, denied the claims and said he never sold any documents.

On Thursday, Nader's campaign said it turned in about 11,000 signatures, more than double the amount the campaign would need for Nader's name to appear on the November ballot. Nader needs 5,002 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot in Nevada.

The signatures were submitted to the Clark County Elections Department, which will begin a process of determining if they are valid.

"Nevada's an important state," said Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese. "It's a key state for all the parties this year, including ours. So we'll be out there campaigning."

Nader plans to visit the state before the November election, Zeese said.

George W. Bush edged Vice President Al Gore in the electoral college in a disputed election, and many Democrats said that if it wasn't for Nader, who ran on the Green Party ticket, Gore would have won.

In Nevada, Bush received 21,597 more votes than Gore. Nader garnered 15,008 votes, or 2.46 percent of the total votes cast. More than half of Nader's votes came from Clark County.

A month ago it didn't look like Nader would make the state ballot. Nader hadn't picked a vice presidential candidate, and under state law, a vice presidential candidate had to be on the petition to make the signatures valid.

The signatures turned in Thursday were gathered by a paid signature collection company, Zeese said.

Vaughan, however, has been gathering his own signatures for weeks. He had been a supporter of Nader, and he once argued that Nader was the most viable candidate who is not a part of the two-party system.

But when Nader announced his vice presidential pick, Peter Camejo, Vaughan denounced the ticket, calling Camejo a "communist" because he ran for president on the Socialist Worker's Party ticket in 1976.

In an e-mail that Vaughan allegedly sent Saturday to Democratic Party executive director Rebecca Lambe, an offer was made to sell signatures collected for the Nader candidacy.

"We are offering not to submit the 14,000 plus signatures we collected, which would give Nader Nevada ballot access as an Independent," the e-mail said. "Nader had openly disavowed our efforts in the press, telling us it was a waste of time as he would qualify as a Green.

"Now they are coming back at us, and all we asked for was reimbursement of expenses, $4,000, which we feel is a prerequisite for submission," the e-mail continued. "If another source is willing to provide such reimbursement, what we do with the signatures, to submit or not would be up to the, (sic) but the deadline to receive such reimbursement would be July 8."

In an e-mail to Zeese, the Nader spokesman, Vaughan allegedly wrote that he wanted the campaign to reimburse him for the $4,000 he spent on direct mail to gather the signatures.

"As of July 2 we had 14,456 signatures," the e-mail said. "If we don't get positive feedback by July 4, we will have to accept Democrat offers to reimburse our expenses in return for not submitting."

Another e-mail said the Congressional Black Caucus, which has been openly critical of Nader's run, was one party interested in purchasing the signatures.

Congressional Black Caucus spokeswoman Candice Tolliver on Thursday said the caucus is not involved with Vaughan.

"That is completely and absolutely false," she said. "We have never heard of this gentleman. We have never spoken with him directly. We really have no part in this tug of war with him and the Nader campaign."

When reached Thursday, Vaughan said he "would not sell" the signatures and would not specify with whom he might have spoken about them.

In a subsequent e-mail, he wrote, "Under no circumstances have I so-called 'sold' the petitions signatures collected either to Republicans seeking to see Nader on the ballot or to Democrats seeking to keep him off."

Vaughan said the Nader campaign is trying to spread "disinformation" about him, and he has sent complaints to the Justice Department and the state attorney general.

While Republicans have been supportive of putting Nader on the ballot in other states, the party was not involved in helping Nader in Nevada, said Chris Carr, the director of the Republican Party of Nevada.

"It's certainly possible that Republicans signed the petition because it's our hope that Nader's presence will draw votes away from John Kerry," Carr said.

State Democrats downplayed the role Nader could have in the election. Nevadans are frustrated with Bush's policies and will vote for a change, said Democratic National Committeeman Steven Horsford.

"That change is not to vote for someone who can't win the presidency," he said.

Democratic political consultant Dan Hart said political dissenters learned their lesson in 2000, when Nader cost the Democrats the election. Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, another Democratic national committeewoman, agreed that people now realize a vote for Nader hurts the Democrats.

"I'm sorry he's on the ballot," she said. "I'm sorry he's in the mix at all because I just think he's a spoiler."

Federal election law would determine whether it would have been illegal to sell the signatures, said secretary of state spokesman Steve George.

Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for the Nevada office of the U.S. Attorney, said it's too early to comment on the case.

"Unfortunately, the federal election laws are very complicated," she said.

Nader has received the Reform Party endorsement, giving him the option of appearing on the ballot for the party in Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Mississippi and South Carolina, Zeese said.

The Nader campaign also submitted signatures in Texas and Illinois, but there are controversies in those states over whether Nader qualifies to be on the ballot.

In Arizona, the campaign fell short of the needed signatures.