"We welcome Senator Sanders to the New Hampshire presidential primary"

[winter is coming]

There's been a lot of posts about whether or not Sanders will be on the ballot in the NH primary. From
http://www.wmur.com/politics/question-is-bernie-sanders-eligible-to-run-in-the-nh-democratic-primary/32674614

"We welcome Senator Sanders to the New Hampshire presidential primary," said party chairman Raymond Buckley. "New Hampshire Democrats are excited to meet the candidates and hear about how we can build on the economic progress we’ve made over the past six years and continue to expand opportunities for New Hampshire’s middle class families.

"The New Hampshire Democratic Party will work to satisfy any concerns of the New Hampshire Secretary of State to ensure Sen. Sanders is on the democratic primary ballot," Buckley said.

[onehandle]

1. Hate to nitpick, but sounds like they are 'going to work on it.'

I welcome Senator Sanders to our party and am glad to have him when they 'satisfy the concerns.'

[HooptieWagon]

2. "Satisfy the concerns of the NH Secretary of State"

Who happens to be a Republican....who wouldn't mind creating a shitstorm for Hillary by pissing off a lot of Sanders supporters. I think the Dem Party will head that off at the pass.

[JaneyVee]

3. NH Sec of State may....

Also want to keep Bernie out of the state because he is a threat to Republicans. That being said, he should be allowed to compete in all states.

[Vinca]

5. I think just the opposite.

NH Republicans want Bernie to weaken Hillary.

[brooklynite]

4. I'm confused; I was told Hillary Clinton was going to keep Sanders off the ballot...

...so scared of him was she.

Another conspiracy theory down the tubes...

[AgingAmerican]

8. Except nobody ever said that

nt

[frylock]

6. Game on!

[MineralMan]

7. This should never have been in question.

Senator Sanders can be on any primary ballot he wishes to. Frankly, nobody will object to that. Not Hillary Clinton and not anybody else, either. Presidential primary elections are a special thing. Most of the state laws being referenced do not apply to presidential primaries in the first place. A number of special rules apply to presidential elections, since they are our only election for a nationwide office (aside from the VP).

[Sancho]

9. The rumors are as bad as Obama's birth certificate...

First, anyone can look up the NH, NY, and other primary candidacy laws and easily see that Hillary nor any current candidate had anything to do with them. They are originally decades old, with some updates over the years.

Second, the laws appear to be intended to keep candidates from running for multiple parties or quickly switching parties.

Third, likely the Secretary of State or some Election Board will rule - it's not up to the Democratic party - but even if Bernie is declared a candidate by the SoS, that doesn't mean that some Joe or Jane in Podunk Town can't challenge Bernie legally as a candidate. If that person is a registered Democrat, maybe someone who has run for dog catcher, and they want to be on the NH ballot - they may file whatever is appropriate to claim that Bernie is NOT a registered Democrat even if the party wants him on the ballot.

Forth, we don't know if a state legislature will want to change their law - even the SoS doesn't know that.

Fifth, on the face of it, Bernie is NOT a REGISTERED DEMOCRAT. If the law requires swearing that he is, there is an obvious issue. He needs evidence that he is a Democrat: a state registration or having run as a Democrat. Would a judge want to see the evidence? I don't know what he would need to satisfy a legal process.

It's going to be interesting folks.