Buchanan sues to appear on state ballot

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Reform Party presidential nominee Pat Buchanan filed a lawsuit today against Michigan Secretary of State Candice Miller in an effort to appear on the state's Nov. 7 ballot.

The lawsuit, filed in Ingham County Court, accuses Miller of incorrectly leaving Buchanan off the November ballot despite the certification of the Michigan Reform Party chairman.

The suit comes a week after Miller decided against allowing Buchanan or John Hagelin, the presidential candidate selected by an anti-Buchanan faction of the Reform Party, to appear on the ballot.

She rejected the certification of both presidential nominees of the Reform Party of Michigan because of "discrepancies" over who is the rightful chair of the Reform Party of Michigan.

The lawsuit lists Buchanan, running mate Evola Foster and Michigan Reform Party Chairman Mark Forton as the plaintiffs.

Forton was certified as the Michigan Reform Party chairman at the national convention last month following the dismissal of Diane McKelvy, who attended the rival convention that nominated Hagelin as the Reform Party presidential nominee, the lawsuit said.

Hagelin's campaign officials listed McKelvy as the Michigan Reform Party chairwoman for the Iowa physicist's faction.

Reform Party bylaws say the state party chairman certifies the national candidates to the secretary of state, said Philip Vestevich, the attorney who filed the lawsuit for Buchanan.

"Candice Miller really should not be playing referee," he said from his Bloomfield Hills office. "She shouldn't be trying to determine the merits of the claims. She has to accept the certification."

Vestevich said in the lawsuit that Miller is the co-chairwoman of the Michigan Republican committee working to elect Texas Gov. George W. Bush as president.

Secretary of State spokeswoman Elizabeth Boyd said the state would defend itself in court during a hearing Friday in Judge Lawrence Glazer's courtroom.

Boyd has said it is wrong to suggest the secretary of state made a mistake by deciding against allowing either Reform Party candidate to appear on the ballot.

Hagelin, who recently announced an alliance between his Natural Law Party and the anti-Buchanan faction of the Reform Party, said his campaign may file a legal brief so that Buchanan's lawsuit would apply to each candidate.

Hagelin said he's in better shape politically than Buchanan because he can appear on the Michigan ballot as the Natural Law Party presidential candidate if the lawsuit fails.

"This isn't a high priority for us, but I would like to be represented as Reform," Hagelin said from Washington. "I do not want to surrender, the party does not want to surrender. For the sake of the party I would fight this."