Vermont's secretary of state has lost an appeal over the nominating petition process for independent candidates for president.
Independent candidates for president can get on the ballot by submitting a statement of nomination with at least 1,000 signatures of qualified voters certified by town clerks. Last spring groups of volunteers gathered 1,400 signatures to get Rocky Anderson on the ballot but the secretary of state said town clerks could only certify names appearing on the nominating petition and not on faxes or photocopies
On Friday the Vermont Supreme Court agreed with a trial court ruling that the way the secretary of state interprets the process unduly burdens the rights of such candidates and their supporters under the First and Fourteenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
