Updated: Sanders moves to clear up possible questions about eligibility for NH primary

[George II]

http://www.wmur.com/politics/sanders-moves-to-clear-up-possible-questions-about-eligibility-for-nh-primary/36071532

Vermont senator recognized as qualified candidate in his home state's Democratic presidential contest

UPDATED 7:45 AM EDT Oct 28, 2015

MANCHESTER, N.H. —U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has taken another step his campaign organization says buttresses his eligibility to be a candidate in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary.

Sanders, who is an independent, on Friday received confirmation that he is a qualified candidate in the March 1, 2016 Democratic presidential primary in his home state of Vermont.

That move, backed up by more than 1,000 signatures as required by Vermont law, should dispel any remaining question about Sanders’ qualifications to run in the Democratic primary in the Granite State, a campaign spokesman told WMUR.com.

“We received a letter from the Vermont Secretary of State on Friday stating that Sen. Sanders will be on the Vermont ballot as a Democratic candidate for president,” campaign spokesman Michael Briggs said.

“We think that this is one more piece of information that buttresses the point that he is qualified to be on the New Hampshire ballot as a Democratic candidate for president, along with about 20 other points.”

Sanders’ qualifications to file in the New Hampshire Democratic primary has been the subject of speculation for six months. WMUR.com reported in April that Sanders’ decisions to reject the nominations of the Democratic Party when he successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2006 and 2012 could be an issue for him when he tries to file for president in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.

The filing period opens Nov. 4 and closes at 5 p.m. on Nov. 20. Briggs said the campaign was not yet sure what day Sanders will file, but Briggs said it is likely the senator will appear personally to do so.

New Hampshire law requires a candidate to fill out and sign a form that states in part, “I am a registered member of the (BLANK) party….” The candidate fills in the blank with a political party. View the form here.

Vermont is among 19 states in which residents do not register to vote as members of a particular party. It is an “open” state and allows all registered voters to simply pick up either a Republican or Democratic ballot when they go to the polls for primary elections, according to an official at the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office.

New Hampshire, by comparison, allows undeclared, or independent, voters to pick up ballots for either party primary. By choosing a Democratic or Republican ballot, a voter becomes a registered member of that party at the time he or she votes. The voter may than change back to undeclared status immediately after exiting the voting booth.

As a result, all New Hampshire voters are either Democrats or Republicans at the time they are voting. Due to that process, New Hampshire is considered a "closed" state.

The deadline for registered Republicans or Democrats to change party affiliation to the other party or to undeclared for the first-in-the-nation primary is Friday. The New Hampshire primary is expected to be held on Feb. 9, 2016, although Secretar of State William Gardner will have the final say in setting the date.

Other candidates for president from “open” states have not had a problem filing for New Hampshire primaries. Among them have been former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in 2004, former Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee in 2000 and former Texas Gov. George W. Bush, also in 2000.

But the difference with Sanders is that he chose not to run for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 2006 and 2012, even after winning the Democratic primaries in those years. He exercised an option available in Vermont to reject the nominations of the Democratic Party and instead chose to run as an independent.

Briggs said the Sanders campaign believes his eligibility to be on the New Hampshire ballot was never seriously in question. But the Vermont Secretary of State’s recognition of him as a “qualified candidate” for that state’s Democratic primary is another point that backs up its position, he said.

Briggs noted that Sanders caucuses with U.S. Senate Democrats and earlier this year was named by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid as the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee. When Democrats were in the majority, Reid appointed Sanders as chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, Briggs said.

Secretary of State Gardner will be in a position to accept or reject Sanders’ declaration when Sanders goes to Gardner’s office to file for the primary.

Gardner, reached by WMUR.com, withheld comment on whether Sanders' move to appear on the Vermont Democratic presidential primary ballot will qualify him for the New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot. He said he would wait until Sanders attempts to file.

In April, Gardner said that when Sanders arrives to file for the New Hampshire primary, he “has got to be a registered member of a party.”

Gardner’s decision to accept or reject Sanders’ declaration of candidacy will be subject to appeal to the bipartisan, six-member state Ballot Law Commission.

Attorney Brad Cook, the commission chairman, said that if someone challenges Gardner’s decision to allow Sanders on the ballot or to reject Sanders' attempt to get o the ballot, the first question the commission will address is whether that person has standing to issue the challenge.

The decision of the Ballot Law Commission, either in favor or against Sanders, could be appealed to a federal court.

State Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley has said the party will go to court if necessary to ensure that Sanders is on the primary ballot.

In Vermont, Sanders is the only candidate to have filed so far for that state’s Democratic primary. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush filed for Vermont’s Republican primary in August.

The filing period for Vermont does not close until Jan. 11, 2016.