Perot's Party Likely To Be On Ohio's Presidential Ballot

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 17) -- Ross Perot's Reform Party appears to have collected enough signatures to win a spot on the Ohio ballot and official certification could come this week.

Former Perot supporters Deborah Taylor and Anne Saucier had asked Secretary of State Bob Taft to delay the certification on the grounds that there were irregularities in petition forms circulated and problems with signatures. Upon investigation by Taft's office, no basis for wrongdoing was found and the probe will not be expanded.

"There is no legal authority to withhold party certification on the basis that certain petitions have been disqualified if sufficient valid signatures are submitted," wrote John Bender, Taft's chief elections counsel, in a letter to Taylor and Saucier.

The party needs 33,463 signatures of registered voters to gain ballot status.

Perot has said he does not plan to run for president, but would if his supporters insisted. The Reform Party has until Aug. 22 to name its presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Perot's Party Likely To Be On Ohio's Presidential Ballot

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