Burlington County Times Tomorrow TRENTON — Edward NJWeedman Forchion has decided to continue his legal battle to restore his name to the November election ballot. The well-known marijuana activist and perennial political candidate filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Sept. 26 seeking to block the ballot from being printed until a recount of the signatures on his nomination petition is completed. Forchion had filed to run as a third-party candidate for New Jerseys 3rd Congressional District, but Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, acting in her capacity as secretary of state, booted him off the ballot in June after the New Jersey Democratic State Committee challenged his petition, claiming that more than half of the 208 signatures Forchion obtained were invalid because the people who signed werent registered voters or didnt live in the 3rd District. Forchion appealed Guadagnos decision to the New Jersey Appellate Division, arguing that many of the signatures were improperly invalidated. But he suffered a setback when the court demanded he pay for a 900-page transcript of an earlier administrative law hearing in the case. Unable to afford the estimated $3,573 fee to cover the cost of the transcript, Forchion said early last month he was abandoning his legal fight and would concentrate on mounting a write-in campaign. He ended up changing his mind and filed for relief from the federal court, claiming he was being discriminated against because of his advocacy for legalizing marijuana. Once again, N.J. state officials are abusing my political expression because of the content of my political expression, Forchion wrote in his federal complaint, adding that the state appeals court failed to protect his rights to run for office. The N.J. appeals court is not acting to ensure democracy is protected. Instead (the court) is choosing to help state officials censor the Legalize Marijuana Party (myself) by inaction. His complaint seeks a recount of his nomination signatures. He names five residents in Delanco, Delran, Riverside and Southampton whose signatures were invalidated, but who he claims are registered voters and residents in the district. The case has been assigned to a U.S. District Court judge to review, but no action had been taken as of Friday afternoon. With less than a month remaining before the election, Forchion may already be too late for judicial relief. Vote-by-mail ballots have already been printed without his name and have been mailed or emailed to military and civilian voters who requested it. Over 8,700 ballots had been mailed in Burlington County as of Sept. 29, according to the County Clerks Office. Forchion said that his main objective was to land a spot in voting machines, but that he would seek to stop the printing and mailing of vote-by-mail ballots. If the judge orders them to be reprinted, so be it, he said. Id blame that cost on the Lt. Governors Office. David Levinsky: 609-871-8154; email: dlevinsky@calkins; Twitter: @davidlevinsky
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 22:26:22 +0000