One third-party presidential candidate has been certified to be on West Virginia's November ballot, while another has been disqualified, the Secretary of State's Office announced Friday.
Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr, a former Georgia congressman, failed to submit enough signatures to be considered for a ballot spot, said Sarah Bailey, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Betty Ireland.
Under West Virginia law, third-party candidates for president must submit by Aug. 1 the valid signatures of 15,118 registered state voters who have signed a petition requesting the candidate be placed on the ballot. Barr's campaign submitted only 13,036 signatures, Bailey said.
"I understand they are still collecting signatures," Bailey said.
Barr's campaign is continuing, said Mike Ferguson, a campaign coordinator. He hopes to have more than the 15,118 by next week.
"We're continuing to collect signatures and next week we're going to be filing [in court] for an injunction," Ferguson said.
The party objects to the "arbitrary date" established by state law for having petition drives completed, he said. He said Republicans don't have to officially file until their convention ends in September, "so there's no compelling reason" to have independents submit signatures sooner.
Ferguson said he will meet with a lawyer Monday and expects to file a legal suit challenging state law shortly thereafter.
State officials, however, have contacted Independent Party nominee Ralph Nader, the consumer crusader, to let his campaign know it qualified for the ballot. At the last official count, Nader had more than 17,000 petition signatures verified, Bailey said.
It's easy to follow the top stories with home delivery of The Charleston Gazette.
- Most Popular
- Most Commented
- A deathbed wish fulfilled
- Skull found at W.Va. construction site
- Fourth of July festival organizers fear violence
- Obituaries for 2009-07-04
- Big kids only: Teenagers wanted a place to call their own
- Cross Lanes firm got $200,000 no-bid contract with osteopathic school
- WVU recruit helps team pick up win
- 'Mountain State' no more? Opponents of surface mining hold naming contest (10 Comments)
- Feds: DEP does not properly oversee mining flood prevention (10 Comments)
- Fourth of July festival organizers fear violence (9 Comments)
- New prisons, shorter sentences recommended to reduce Corrections system overcrowding (7 Comments)
- Carte Goodwin may run for Congress (7 Comments)
- Hate crime (7 Comments)
- McDowell delegate vows to stop traffic to protest tolls (7 Comments)



Post a comment
It also seems to me that without such, the WV voters rights on a Federal level become restricted on a state level.