toledoblade.com --

COLUMBUS - A federal judge yesterday denied presidential candidate Ralph Nader's bid to get back on the Nov. 2 ballot in Ohio.

U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus said he did not consider Mr. Nader's constitutional arguments, citing the Sept. 28 decision by Ohio's chief elections officer to order Mr. Nader off the ballot because several petition circulators committed fraud.

Eight days later, Mr. Nader's supporters sought a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order in federal court to prevent the removal of Mr. Nader's name from the Nov. 2 ballot in Ohio.

Michael Cassidy, a suburban Cleveland attorney representing Mr. Nader's campaign, said Ohio law requiring petition circulators to be Ohio residents and registered voters violates the First Amendment. The reason: The signatures of registered voters were invalidated because the state said circulators weren't Ohio residents.

In ordering Mr. Nader off the ballot, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell accepted the conclusion of an assistant elections counsel who ruled that 2,756 of the Nader petition signatures should be invalidated.

Of that total, 1,956 were invalidated because the petition circulator falsely identified himself or herself as an Ohio resident and/or didn't witness people signing the petition.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 ruled that a Colorado law requiring petition circulators to be registered voters was unconstitutional. A court majority, however, declined to address whether the Colorado law requiring circulators to be state residents is unconstitutional.

"In view of the [1999 decision], it appears clear that the requirement of Ohio law that circulators be registered is unconstitutional," Judge Sargus wrote.

But Judge Sargus said it was unnecessary for him to delve into the constitutional issue because even if he accepted Mr. Nader's argument, Ohio would not place Mr. Nader's name back on the ballot because "signatures would be excluded on the grounds of several forms of fraud on the part of circulators."

Andrew Clubok, an attorney representing Democrats who challenged Mr. Nader's petition signatures, said "rampant fraud" committed by several circulators prevented attorneys from uncovering additional alleged fraud because there was no way to issue subpoenas.

Echoing the conclusion of Mr. Blackwell's assistant elections counsel, Judge Sargus said he didn't have any reason to allege that Mr. Nader or his campaign was aware of any misconduct by petition circulators.

Mr. Cassidy said he plans to consult with the Nader campaign about appealing yesterday's decisions to the Cincinnati-based federal appeals court. A lawsuit that Mr. Nader's campaign filed Oct. 4 in the Ohio Supreme Court to get his name back on the Nov. 2 ballot is pending.

Attorneys representing the state and the group of Democrats that challenged Mr. Nader's petitions had asked Judge Sargus to delay a decision. They cited a 1971 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said a federal court should not interfere with a pending state case except in unusual or drastic circumstances.

But Judge Sargus, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, rejected that request.

"This is a federal election. The hour is late and if this court were to abstain, no federal court would be able to take action," he said.

Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office, said: "We are moving forward with election preparations without Mr. Nader, and we believe our actions have been fair, proper, and in keeping with the law, and we are pleased the federal court agrees."

Contact James Drew at:
jdrew@theblade.com
or 614-221-0496.

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