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Nader’s status uncertain

A flurry of activity in Ralph Nader’s heated legal battle with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin erupted Tuesday, though a final conclusion to the three-week-long saga concerning whether the independent candidate will appear on Wisconsin’s ballot still remains uncertain.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Michael Nowakowski dealt Nader a setback in the ballot struggle early Tuesday, ruling to remove the candidate from the ballot.

The Democratic Party had filed a petition with the court seeking reversal of the State Elections Board’s Sept. 21 ruling that filing mistakes made by the Nader campaign are not grounds to disqualify him from the ballot.

The Democrats alleged Nader’s failure to list an elector from the 7th Congressional District should invalidate all of his nomination papers. A hearing Monday was adjourned for Tuesday, when Nowakowski ruled in favor of the Democratic Party.

Democratic Party spokesman Seth Boffeli lauded the decision for correcting the Elections Board’s disregard for state law.

“There were two simple things Ralph Nader had to do: get signatures from 2,000 people and get one person from each congressional district. He didn’t do that,” Boffeli said. “The State Elections Board set a poor standard by giving him a free pass simply because he’s Ralph Nader.”

The Board had established a poor precedent in not requiring the Nader campaign to meet all ballot qualifications, Boffeli said.

“There were various different routes Nader could have taken to get on the ballot, but he chose the path of least resistance. We are very glad Judge Nowakowski held him to the standard of the law,” he added.

Students for Nader chair Paul Heideman was surprised to learn of Nowakowski’s decision.

“We thought we had a strong case, and we still think we have a strong case,” Heideman said.

Nowakowski granted a stay in his decision until noon Wednesday, allowing time for the Nader campaign to file an emergency appeal. They did just that, petitioning for a writ of mandamus with the state Supreme Court late Tuesday afternoon. The court later agreed to hear the case at 8 a.m. Sept. 30.

The short turnaround was necessitated by a 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday for the Elections Board to certify candidates for the general election. Nowakowski granted an extension in his stay, but with the ruling, the board cannot tell county clerks whether or not to include Nader on the ballot.

Municipal clerks are set to mail absentee ballots Oct. 3.

Heideman expressed frustration with the Democrats’ ongoing attempts to keep Nader off the ballot.

“The Democrats’ goal is to tie up our resources so we can’t have a debate on the issues,” he said. “The Democratic Party needs to change their name.”

But Boffeli said rules are rules, and Nader failed to follow them. He is confident the Supreme Court will agree Thursday.

“We do believe the Supreme Court will rule in our favor,” he said.