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The Kentucky Democratic Party is claiming that John McCain didn't jump through all the proper hoops to get his name on Kentucky's ballot for the May primary. Here's the dems allegation: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Allison Haley, Communications Director McCain FEC Deception Continues: WASHINGTON, DC - Facing questions about whether the campaign leveraged eligibility for public matching funds to gain access to the ballot in several states, the McCain campaign yesterday sunk to a new low. For days the McCain campaign has been playing fast and loose with the facts surrounding McCain's FEC violations. On a call with reporters yesterday, the McCain campaign erroneously stated that the campaign was getting on the Kentucky ballot by collecting signatures. [Wall Street Journal, 2/27/08] The Democratic National Committee today released documents that show the McCain campaign did not file for the Kentucky ballot by collecting signatures, but by demonstrating that he had qualified for the ballot in at least 20 other states. One of the states the campaign cited was Delaware. As the DNC revealed yesterday, McCain qualified for the Delaware ballot by citing the FEC's approval of his application for matching funds, thereby avoiding the need to collect signatures. "Not only does John McCain think that he can violate the law by leveraging public funds for private fundraising, but his campaign is clearly willing to mislead in order to cover their tracks," said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney. "How can the American people trust John McCain when he is unwilling to admit he's wrong and follow the law?" Since the DNC filed its complaint with the FEC on Monday, the McCain campaign has tried to mislead the public by claiming they were withdrawing from the matching funds program in the same way the Dean campaign did in 2003. In fact, unlike McCain, the Dean campaign received FEC approval for withdrawing from the system. McCain's campaign has also refused to admit that the FEC's approval of his application for matching funds helped the campaign secure a private loan and get on the ballot in some states, even though their ballot applications clearly demonstrate that qualifying for matching funds helped them avoid signature collection requirements in Ohio and Delaware. To view John McCain's application for the Kentucky ballot, click here: http://www.democrats.org/page/-/pdf/McCainKentuckyBallotApplication.pdf The McCain campaign's application for the Delaware ballot, which relies on his qualification for matching funds, is available on the DNC website at: http://www.democrats.org/page/-/pdf/20071116_McCainCF.pdf Paid for by the Kentucky Democratic Party.; 3 CommentsLeave a comment |
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The documentation on the Secretary of State website states:
(1) Pursuant to KRS 118.581 ballot access is attained by:
The Kentucky State Board of Elections will meet in Frankfort on the second Tuesday in January preceding a presidential preference primary for the purpose of nominating those candidates who have qualified for matching federal campaign funds. A list of those candidates is provided by the Federal Election Commission. [Emphasis mine]
It doesn't matter whether they accepted the funds or not. If Alan Keyes can make the ballot, then anyone can.
The Democrat Party must be desperate if they bring up bogus stuff like this.
I don't know that it's fair to characterize complying with campaign finance laws as "jumping through hoops." McCain is gaming the system and breaking the law here, a system that he's played a huge role in creating. Access to Kentucky's ballot should really be in question.
McCain needs 1191 delegates to lock up the nomination before the convention. He doesn't have those yet. Will he be able to attain that number? I question such ability on the fact that, even with those "donated" by Romney, that because he slithered into some states, like Ohio, not getting signatures but instead stating that he was qualified to be on the primary ballot because he had federal matching funds just might come to haunt him. Dave Meyer posted above that McCain was "breaking the law". My current understanding is that it is federal criminal law McCain has broken, and if so, then a federal Grand Jury should convene to make the determination of whether he should be indicted, just the same as any other person that violates the law. Haven't we had enough of politicians that hold themselves above the law?