Miscellaneous

Could Bob Barr win Texas?

Bob Barr is running for president on the Libertarian ticket. And he's now filed a lawsuit in Texas looking to get McCain and Obama both thrown off the state ballot, which would open things up for him considerably. Both camps' alleged violation of the state's election law shows, in the wording of the lawsuit, "[t]he hubris of the major parties."

Texas election code §192.031 requires that the "written certification" of the "party's nominees" be delivered "before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before election day." Because neither candidate had been nominated by the official filing deadline, the Barr campaign argues it was impossible for the candidates to file under state law.

"Supreme Court justices should recognize that their responsibility is to apply the law as passed by the Legislature, and the law is clear that the candidates cannot be certified on the ballot if their filings are late," says Drew Shirley, a local attorney for the Barr campaign, who is also a Libertarian candidate for the Texas Supreme Court.

A 2006 Texas Supreme Court decision ruled that state laws "does not allow political parties or candidates to ignore statutory deadlines."

This all comes from Barr's press release, so it's of course one-sided. But it sounds convincing though, right? We'll find out soon, although Bar''s already lost the first battle, as the court refused to issue an injunction preventing overseas military ballots from being mailed out.

Full post as published by Quiz Law on September 22, 2008 (boomark / email).