Green, Reform parties considering appeals

Eight third-party candidates were removed from Indiana's November ballot Thursday following a hearing before the Indiana Election Commission.\nGreen Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader and running mate Winona LaDuke, along with six Reform Party candidates for President, Vice President, Governor, Lt. Governor, State Superintendent and U.S. Senator were eliminated from the ballot after the Indiana Election Commission determined they did not have the 30,716 signatures required to be included on the ballot.\nClerks in each county check the signatures to ensure they belong to registered voters in that county. \nBoth parties said they originally submitted enough signatures, but that county clerks decertified too many and they fell beneath the limit.\nKen Rogers, co-coordinator of the Indiana Greens Campaign, said the party is strongly considering an appeal of the commission's decision. The Associated Press reported the Reform Party may also file an appeal.\nRogers said the Green Party submitted about 34,000 signatures, but only 15,000 were validated. He said the commission gave the party no reasons for the decertified signatures, but he said the Monroe County clerk indicated some were decertified because the voters were not registered in Monroe County. \n"(Some signatures) were from other counties and each county clerk can attest only to the registered voters in that clerk's county," Rogers said. "However we find it dubious that there would have been only 15,000 certified; 19,000 were decertified. That's an awful lot of people."\nReform Party attorney Robbin Stewart told the Associated Press the Reform Party turned in 33,000 signatures, but only 10,869 were ruled valid.\nThe parties also have the option of filing to become a valid write-in candidate. Candidates would have to file an application before Sept. 18, just after the filing deadline for the appeal.\nRogers said the Green Party was also seriously considering the write-in option.\n"We would not want to lose that option if we lost the appeal, assuming we do appeal," Rogers said.