The Nader/Gonzalez Campaign Successfully Tackles New Hampshire's Formidable Ballot Access Laws
Media Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (Washington) Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org;
(NH) Gary Hoffman, 978-973-2094, gary@votenader.org
NADER/GONZALEZ CAMPAIGN SUCCESSFULLY TACKLES NEW HAMPSHIRE'S FORMIDABLE BALLOT ACCESS LAWS
The Nader/Gonzalez 2008 presidential campaign on Friday, Aug. 29, will submit more than 4,000 validated signatures--2,000 from each Congressional district--to the New Hampshire Secretary of the State's Election Division, to place Ralph Nader and running-mate Matt Gonzalez on the November 2008 presidential election ballot.
To qualify to appear on New Hampshire's ballot, the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign is required to collect more than 1,500 valid voters' signatures from each Congressional district, which then needed to be taken to over 200 individual towns and cities to be verified by local election officials. The campaign was further required to collect all the verified signatures and deliver them to the Secretary of State. Additionally, state election law mandates that only one signature is allowed per petition sheet, making New Hampshire one of the most difficult states for petition submission in the nation.
New Hampshire has been hit hard by the economic downturn, resulting in factory shutdowns and high unemployment rates. Home foreclosures are particularly high, since city infrastructures are funded entirely through property taxes, causing New Hampshire to have among the highest property taxes in the nation. The Nader/Gonzalez Campaign is proposing a 'Marshall Plan' for Cities to rebuild crumbling infrastructure and a crash program to switch to a solar-based energy economy that will provide millions of new jobs.
Gary Hoffman, Nader/Gonzalez New Hampshire State Coordinator, will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. in the lobby of the Legislative Office building, 33 N. State St., Concord, NH, 03301.
WHO: New Hampshire Nader/Gonzalez 2008 Campaign
WHAT: News Conference and nominating petitions submission
WHEN: 11 a.m., Fri. Aug. 29, 2008
WHERE: the lobby of the Legislative Office building, 33 N. State St., Concord, NH, 03301.
About Ralph Nader
Attorney, author, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century." For more than four decades he has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and was instrumental in enacting the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from Princeton University and received an LL.B from Harvard Law School.
About Matt Gonzalez
Matt Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005, he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender, Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, a 7-attorney practice in San Francisco that represents individuals and organizations in mediation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before state and federal regulatory bodies. Gonzalez graduated from Columbia University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.
About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
According to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted from July 27-29, Ralph Nader is at 6 percent nationally (equivalent to about 10 million eligible voters), higher than his highest major poll numbers during the same time period in 2000 and approaching the 10 percent threshold required for eligibility to participate in "America's Presidential Debate in New Orleans," a Google-sponsored event scheduled for September 18. In the key swing state of Michigan -- whose Democratic voters were partially disenfranchised by the Democratic National Committee -- an EPIC-MRA poll found Nader at 8-10 percent.
For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org.
