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Article: Validation procedures and the burden of ballot access regulations.
- Article from:
- The Yale Law Journal
- Article date:
- May 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Yale University, School of Law. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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One of the most intriguing subplots of the 2004 presidential campaign involved the efforts of some John Kerry supporters to keep Ralph Nader off the ballot. In more than twenty states, Democratic activists vigorously contested the validity of Nader's nomination petitions. (1) The Nader campaign countered on two fronts. First, it defended itself against the onslaught of challenges in state administrative and judicial proceedings. Second, it filed federal lawsuits claiming that certain state ballot access laws violated the constitutional rights of Nader and his supporters. (2)
Like most plaintiffs in federal ballot access cases, Nader focused on the core statutory ...