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Nader, Libertarians make Arizona's ballot
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Nader
An independent presidential candidate and a surge of Libertarians to offer voters more choices will appear on this year’s ballot, according to the final list of names that met Wednesday’s deadline to make Arizona’s ballot.
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader’s campaign delivered 22,060 petition signatures just before the 5 p.m. deadline at the Secretary of State’s Office at the state Capitol. That was nearly 7,500 more signatures than the minimum to qualify for the general election ballot with Republican incumbent George Bush and Democrat John Kerry.
Nader’s Arizona campaign coordinator Cheryl Rohrick said volunteers worked through Tuesday night trying to verify most of the signatures by checking voter registration rolls. The Nader campaign expects a legal challenge from Democrats.
"I think it’s a good sign for Arizona that we are trying to get back to third-party candidates," Rohrick said.
Kerry supporters worry that Nader could take enough votes to tilt a tight election to Bush.
Meanwhile, Libertarians fielded a full slate of candidates for the U.S. Senate seat and the eight congressional districts up for election this year.
No Libertarian has ever won a state or federal race in Arizona. But several candidates said they will force candidates for the two major parties to deal with questions of limited government and individual freedom.
"Libertarians are the swing votes in a lot of states," said Ernest Hancock of Phoenix, who is running against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Democratic challenger Stuart Starky.
This year’s election also will fill seats in the state Legislature and most Maricopa County offices.
The primary election is Sept. 7. The general election is Nov. 2.
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