Nader petition campaign might have to start over in Nevada

Kirsten Searer

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 | 8:50 a.m.

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader appeared to be just a few hundred signatures short of making the ballot in Nevada, but supporters found out this week they'll have to start over.

Stan Vaughan, a Nader supporter and an Independent candidate for the Assembly, said he has gathered about 4,800 signatures to put Nader on the ballot, just short of the roughly 5,000 needed by July 9.

Vaughan said he and about a dozen volunteers, most of them college students, took just two weeks in May to obtain the signatures by trolling campuses and local libraries.

"There are a lot of people out there who are just not going to vote unless they have a good option like Nader," Vaughan said.

But the secretary of state's office e-mailed Vaughan a caution on Monday: State law requires that petitions to put a third-party candidate on the ballot have the name of both the presidential and vice presidential candidate.

Nader doesn't have a vice presidential nominee yet, so Vaughan's signatures easily could be challenged if he were to submit them, said Steve George, a spokesman for Secretary of State Dean Heller.

The law is designed that way because people have a right to know the full ticket they are supporting when they sign a petition, George said.

"Maybe the vice president is somebody they would be totally against having on that ticket," he said.

Vaughan, who owns a computer sales business and said he spends plenty of his time on politics, said he is undeterred and will attempt to start gathering new signatures as soon as he can.

"Believe me, I was pretty stunned and pretty crestfallen," Vaughan said. "But that only lasted for a short period of time. It's just one of those things where you dust yourself off and get back up again."

The problem is, Vaughan and a spokesman for Nader said, they don't know when Nader will designate a vice presidential nominee.

Kevin Zeese, a Nader spokesman, said he heard Nader say about a month ago that he hoped to name a vice presidential candidate before July.

"But I have not heard any more updates," Zeese said.

The Green Party, the banner under which Nader ran in 2000, will hold its convention in late June and could endorse Nader, Zeese said. That potentially could help the independent candidate get his name on more ballots.

But if not, Nader supporters will have to collect signatures in each state to win ballot status.

Nader is in the midst of a lawsuit in Texas that says the state puts an undue burden on third-party presidential candidates by requiring them to turn in signatures months before most states, Zeese said.

Nader likely will turn in sufficient signatures to land on Arizona's ballot today, Zesse said. But 46 states, including Nevada, have deadlines between July and October, Zeese said.

In 2000, Nader received 15,008 votes in Nevada. The difference between President Bush, who won the state, and Al Gore was 21,597 votes.

On Tuesday, Republican state party executive director Chris Carr said he would welcome a Nader campaign in Nevada.

"I do think we would benefit from it, to be quite honest with you," Carr said.

Sean Smith, a Nevada spokesman for Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, said Kerry and Nader have worked together on several issues, including "protecting the environment, providing affordable health care and creating new and better jobs."

"In the end, we believe that voters will elect John Kerry because he has the vision, leadership and judgment to put America back on track," Smith said.

Vaughan said he plans to start collecting signatures again as soon as Nader announces a vice presidential nominee.

"He has to get back to me on who the vice presidential candidate is going to be so we can get back to starting over on this," he said.

While most college students are on break now, Vaughan said he has been able to appeal to other Democrats who feel "like they've been taken for granted" by their party.

The anti-war vote, along with votes of people concerned about corporate power, the Patriot Act and universal health care, will go to Nader, Vaughan said.

He said he's not worried that he could draw votes away from Kerry and help Bush win the state.

"The Democrats have nobody to blame but themselves," he said.