Some candidates have primary petition problems
Newsday features an AP article about the Democratic presidential candidates and the New York primary ballot.
The article seems to be arranged in a rather strange way, which makes it difficult to make a proper comparison of the candidates. The way I read it, all of the candidates except Moseley Braun will be on the ballot in New York. The candidates additionally file delegate slates for each of the 29 congressional districts in the state although this is not required to claim delegates; it's just a demonstration of the strength of the candidate's ground operation.
Keeping this in mind, according to the article, Dean and Edwards filed slates in all 29 districts. Kucinich filed slates in 28 districts. Clark also filed slates in 28 districts but the article seems to suggest that one or more of the slates actually contains an insufficient number of signatures. Gephardt filed slates in 26 districts but the article again seems to suggest that one or more of the slates actually contains an insufficient number of signatures. Kerry filed slates in 21 districts but at least four of the slates contain insufficient numbers of signatures, according to the article. Lieberman filed slates in 18 districts. Sharpton filed slates in 16 districts and the article seems to suggest that one or more of the slates actually contains an insufficient number of signatures.
Among other things, it appears that Kucinich has the third-best ground operation in New York, well ahead of many "serious candidates".
Follow the extended entry link to read the article.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Sen. Joseph Lieberman has failed to qualify delegate slates for New York's Democratic presidential primary in more than a third of the state's congressional districts, an examination of records showed Thursday.
Other candidates, including former Gen. Wesley Clark, Sen. John Kerry, Rep. Richard Gephardt and Al Sharpton, filed petitions for delegate slates that appear to contain an insufficient number of signatures from Democratic voters to qualify those slates for the March 2 primary ballot, according to a review by The Associated Press.
When filing petitions, the campaigns must certify that the documents contain the required number of signatures.
In New York, because there are separate petitions for candidates and for delegate slates and separate voting at the primary for them as well, the bottom-line effect of not qualifying delegate slates is minimal. Filing the slates is, however, a demonstration of a campaign's organizational strength and financial resources, potentially important factors in primaries.
Among the nine major Democratic candidates, only former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois chose not to file petitions to get on the statewide primary ballot in New York. To qualify for the ballot, a candidate must file petitions containing the signatures of at least 5,000 party members.
Perennial candidate Lyndon LaRouche also filed petitions to get on the Democratic primary ballot in New York.
Among the contenders, only former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina appear to have qualified delegate slates in each of New York's 29 congressional districts.
Recent independent polls have shown Dean as the front-runner for the nomination in New York.
Lieberman failed to file petitions for delegate slates in 11 of the state's 29 congressional districts, according to campaign aides.
The Connecticut senator filed delegate slate petitions in only three of the state's 12 congressional districts north of New York City, according to state Board of Election records.
"We're proud we accomplished our goal of getting Joe Lieberman on the ballot in New York and slating our supporters as delegates in most congressional districts because getting on the ballot is the first, most important threshold test and delegates can be allotted after we win the primary," said Lieberman spokesman Adam Kovacevich.
Lieberman's main backer in New York, Manhattan Democrat Sheldon Silver, the powerful speaker of the state Assembly, said the Lieberman camp was close to having enough signatures to qualify delegate slates in a number of the districts where it didn't file petitions.
"We made a determination not to make the certification that it was enough (signatures), as was done in a lot of the other campaigns," Silver added.
Kerry's campaign failed to file petitions for delegate slates in eight congressional districts and filed delegate slate petitions in at least four congressional districts, where a review by the AP found an inadequate number of signatures.
For instance, in the 5th CD, which covers part of Nassau County on Long Island and part of Queens and is represented by Gary Ackerman, the Kerry petition contained the signatures of 643 Democrats, according to the AP review. To qualify the delegate slate, 859 signatures are needed in that district.
Kerry's New York campaign director, veteran political operative Paul Rivera, conceded Thursday that some petitions were filed without the required number of signatures.
"We expected someone to challenge them, but they weren't challenged," Rivera said Thursday. "They weren't challenged, so they're on the ballot."
In New York, election officials usually only review petitions if a formal challenge is filed. Challenges must be filed within three days of the petition being filed. The deadline for filing petitions in New York was Friday of last week.
But state Board of Elections spokesman Lee Daghlian said Thursday that given the AP's review, the board might consider eliminating some delegate slates.
Contacted Thursday, a Dean campaign spokesman faulted those filing inadequate petitions.
"Our grassroots worked their tails off to get our slates on the ballot in every district, and that we qualified everywhere says a lot about our popular support compared to others," said Dean spokesman Eric Schmeltzer. "But what we didn't expect to see is that some of these other campaigns apparently resorted to lying to the Board of Elections to get their slates on the ballot. It speaks volumes about their campaigns."
Among the other candidates, Sharpton failed to file delegate slate petitions in at least 13 congressional district, records show; Gephardt failed to file in at least three districts; and Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Clark each failed to file in at least one congressional district.
"What's important is we qualified statewide," said Gephardt spokesman Erik Smith. "After we win Iowa, our New York campaign will take off."
In New York, a presidential candidate who wins enough votes in the primary to qualify for delegates in a congressional district where he has no delegate slate running, has delegates appointed for him by the state party. Those appointed delegates are pledged to vote for the candidate on the first ballot at the national convention.
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