OntheWilderSide

Pa. Statehouse scandal cited in Sen. ballot case | AP | 07/16/2008

A former Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate on Wednesday asked the state’s highest court to reopen his two-year-old ballot-access case because state legislative officials arrested last week on corruption charges were allegedly involved in the challenge that knocked him out of the race.

Carl Romanelli, once regarded as a threat to Democrat Bob Casey in the 2006 Senate race, and his lawyer, Lawrence Otter, want the case sent back to Commonwealth Court. There, they plan to ask a judge to dismiss a ruling requiring them to pay more than $80,000 in legal costs.

Romanelli and Otter cite grand jury allegations that state House Democratic caucus operatives directed as many as 30 taxpayer-paid employees to review signatures on Romanelli’s petition in the ballot challenge that killed his candidacy.

“A democratic society can no longer function if the government is going to support candidates and suppress other candidates using its funds and resources,” Samuel Stretton, the attorney for Romanelli and Otter, wrote in Wednesday’s filing in the state Supreme Court.

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The video below includes archival footage of Carl Romanelli explaining his case. [Please note that this footage is from the summer of 2007, when Ralph Nader was still considering the Green Party line for President. The Green Party Presidential candidate is now Cynthia McKinney. Ralph Nader is running as an Independent. Both candidates support each other’s right to ballot access.]

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7111136193260763099]

Filed under: activism, election, elections, Green Party Websites, Political Websites, Ralph Nader, US Politics, video Tagged: | corruption, pennsylvania, press conference, Ralph Nader