The Washington Post
July 3, 2000
BUCHANAN, HAGELIN ON REFORM PARTY BALLOT
By David Von Drehle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Page A06
Former Republican Patrick J. Buchanan will face John Hagelin, leader of the Natural Law Party, for the Reform Party presidential nomination--and the $12.6 million in federal campaign funds that go with it, Reform leaders announced yesterday.
Ballots will be mailed to thousands of interested voters across the country this week, according to Michael Farris, chairman of the Reform Party's presidential nominations committee.
Party founder Ross Perot's suggestion that a "no endorsement" option be added to the ballot was turned down by the committee....
The decision appears to mean that Perot--who won 19 percent of the vote in 1992, making him the most successful third-party candidate in generations--will have no role this year in the party he created....
Farris said the three members of the nominations committee were unanimous and that the party's rules were clear. "If Ross Perot was allowed to have a line marked No Endorsement, how could we prevent someone else having a line marked Colin Powell?" he said....
The deadline for requesting a Reform ballot has passed. Voters who receive ballots can mail them in or use the identification number on the ballot to vote over the Internet Aug. 7-9. Results will be announced at the convention, but a vote by more than two-thirds of the delegates can overturn the results.
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