New Hampshire's Secretary of State has questioned whether Bernie Sanders is eligible for a spot on the New Hampshire primary ballot.
His concern is that New Hampshire law states:
RSA 655:14 Filing: General Provisions. – The name of any person shall not be printed upon the ballot of any party for a primary unless he or she is a registered member of that party...
This raises two questions in Mr. Gardner's mind: a) is Sanders registered as a member of the Democratic Party; and b) does Gardner believe he is a Democrat? An explanation of how Bill Gardner is incompetent, below.
It is absolutely true that Bernie Sanders is not a registered Democrat - because Vermont doesn't track party registration. He can't live in Vermont and be a registered Democrat - or a registered Republican, or a registered Liberty Unionist. So by a strict reading of New Hampshire law, his name cannot go on the ballot. More on that in a moment.
Bill Gardner's assessment of whether Bernie is a real Democrat, based on his public statements and the views of other public officials, is different. It has absolutely no basis in state or federal law. Gardner has no authority to keep someone off the ballot because of his own assessment. It is just Mr. Gardner preening in the press, misusing his office - and damaging the First in the Nation primary that he claims to champion.
Back to the law itself. Bernie is not a registered Democrat, because Vermont doesn't register by party. QED, he can't appear on the ballot.
Just one problem with this logic.
Here are some other states that don't register voters by party: Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Secretary of State Gardner has just discovered that Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama should have been kept off the New Hampshire primary ballots.
In light of his failure to enforce the law, maybe he should step down.