The New Mexico Supreme Court ordered Ralph Nader back on the ballot Tuesday.
The court directed Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron to print and distribute ballots with Nader and his running mate, Peter Camejo, as independent candidates, overturning a Sept. 20 decision.
State District Judge Theresa Baca ruled Nader did not qualify as an independent candidate because he is the nominee of other parties, including the Reform Party, in other states and was therefore not without party affiliation.
Carol Miller, Nader's state coordinator, said the decision was a recognition of what the campaign already knew - that Nader met every qualification to be on the ballot.
Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese agreed.
"There is no question that enough New Mexico voters signed petitions to put them on the ballot," he said.
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Miller said the decision, with its rejection of Baca's interpretation of who can run as an independent, was important for future ballot-access cases.
"In New Mexico, the voters have the right to create the ballot, not the political parties," Miller said.
The lawsuit challenging Nader's candidacy was filed by a group that included Vanessa Alarid, Democratic Party executive director.
Pat Rogers, an attorney for Nader and Camejo, said the decision places New Mexico in line with other states that have rejected efforts to block Nader from the ballot.
"I thought (Baca) gave too much credence to the argument by the Democrats to 'protect' the poor, dumb New Mexican voters from the ideas that Ralph Nader was trying to convey in other states," he said.
Democratic Party spokesman Matt Farrauto said the party would have preferred a different outcome, but said Nader's presence on the ballot would not hurt Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry.
"One thing all New Mexicans know is that Ralph Nader's campaign has Republican fingers and toes," Farrauto said, pointing to last month's signature drive by JSM, Inc. at UNM and Nader's representation by a Republican attorney in court.
However, Miller said Democrats objected to Nader's candidacy, because they were afraid to hear Nader's message.
"It was the ideas they were trying to silence, not the voice," she said. "Now the ideas can get out."
After Baca's ruling, the secretary of state began printing and distributing ballots without Nader's and Camejo's names. The state Supreme Court issued a stay, ordering Vigil-Giron to stop distributing ballots.
Jeff Carvajal, a Bernalillo County Bureau of Elections coordinator, said he thought 241 absentee ballots had already been mailed out.
"Those individuals will receive a new ballot with Nader on it and a letter explaining they should not submit the first ballot," he said.
If voters send in the first ballot, it won't be counted, Carvajal said.
As soon as the clerk's office receives the new ballots from the printer, it will mail them out immediately, he said.
Three Supreme Court Justices, Pamela Minzer, Richard Bosson and Edward Ch†vez, recused themselves from the case. Chief Justice Petra Maes and Justice Patricio Serna heard the case, along with District Judge Thomas Fitch and Court of Appeals Judges Michael Bustamante and James Wechsler.
