In boost for Bush, Florida court puts Nader on ballot

12.00pm

Florida's highest court today ruled that Reform Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader must be allowed to compete in the 2004 election in the state, delivering a possible boost to President George W Bush's re-election chances.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled on a challenge by the Democratic party against Nader being on the ballot on the grounds the Reform Party, once led by maverick billionaire Ross Perot, was not a genuine national political organisation.

The court said Florida law was not clear enough to justify refusing Nader access to the ballot.

"In making our decision in this case, we are guided by the overriding constitutional principle in favor of ballot access," the Supreme Court said in its ruling.

It said the Florida legislature had not clearly defined what constituted a "national party" or a "national convention."

"In the absence of more specific statutory criteria or guidance from the legislature, we are unable to conclude that a statutory violation occurred," the court said.

The decision could mean a boost for Bush, who polls show is locked in a tight race this year for Florida's 27 electoral college votes with Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry.

Nader was a Green Party candidate in 2000 when Bush won Florida by 537 votes to clinch the White House, but was spurned by that party this year.

He won the endorsement of the Reform Party, which is on the ballot in a handful of states. Analysts said most of Nader's nearly 98,000 Florida votes in 2000 would have gone to then Democratic Vice President Al Gore had Nader not been around.

"We're relieved that the court ruled in favor of our candidate and now every vote will get counted in November," said Reform Party of Florida spokesman Patrick Slevin. "We're also angry because we should never have been here in the first place."

Allie Merzer, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Florida, said the party would not appeal.

The Democrats and independent electoral watchdog groups had argued that the Reform Party did not have enough members or an active recruitment programme in Florida to qualify as a national party. They said it was being backed by Republicans as a spoiler to erode support for Kerry.

Attorney Laurence Tribe argued for the Democrats that Nader was campaigning as an independent in other states and should have done the same in Florida.

"He could have easily said, as he has done in most states, 'I'll be an independent, I'll get petitions,"' said Tribe, a professor of constitutional law.

The Reform Party says the challenge represented a desperate attempt to cling to a two-party electoral system.

Nader's attorney, Ken Sukhia, told the high court that though Reform Party numbers were down significantly from its heyday under Perot, it remained a viable political organisation.

"There is no minor party in this country that is consistently active in elections in every state," he said.

The Supreme Court ruled out a new hearing on the issue before its judges.

The decision will allow the state to mail off around 25,000 absentee ballots for overseas voters by a weekend deadline.

The battle over Nader's inclusion on this year's ballot in Florida, a state run by the president's brother Governor Jeb Bush, has seen a flurry of legal wrangling.

Last week, Circuit Judge Kevin Davey ruled the Reform Party no longer qualified as a national political party, a decision Nader and Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood appealed. The Supreme Court decision overturned Davey's ruling.

- REUTERS