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Federal Judge Refuses to Kick Green Party Candidates Off Ballot

Phoenix, AZ – Under state law, a candidate can become the official nominee for
a minor party by simply registering as a write-in and then voting
for himself or herself. Keith Beauchap, attorney for the Green
Party, said several people made a last-minute registration change
from being Republicans, voted for themselves, and are now
official nominees. He said his party doesn't want them, saying
they don't represent the party principles, with one even having a
swastika on his web site. And Beauchamp said this really is a
scheme by Republicans to take votes away from Democrats. But
Republican Steve May said there's nothing wrong with that.

(This is using the process at its finest. This is how democracy
works. This is a lesson in democracy for the Democratic Party and
for everybody else in America.)

In his ruling, Judge David Campbell acknowledged the candidates
may not represent the Green Party platform. But Campbell said
that kind of thing happens all the time in every party. And
Campbell said it would be wrong of him to summarily take their
names off the ballot now since there would be no way to put their
names back if, after a full-blown hearing and after the ballots
were printed, he determined they did have a right to run as Green
Party contenders. For Arizona Public Radio this is Howard
Fischer.