News Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (Washington) Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org;
(Virginia) Christina Qura, 703-470-1029; or Dena Cottle, 757-831-1594.


NADER/GONZALEZ CAMPAIGN SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES COMPLICATED BALLOT PROCESS, SUBMITS MORE THAN 15,00 SIGNATURES TO OBTAIN VIRGINIA BALLOT LINE

Supporters of Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader Fri., Aug. 22, will submit petitions to the Virginia State Board of Elections, to place Mr. Nader and running-mate Matt Gonzalez on the November 2008 election ballot.

Virginia will be the 37th state in which the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign has filed for a ballot line since Mr. Nader announced his intent to run during a February 24 appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press". To qualify to appear on Virginia's ballot, state law requires submission of the signatures of 400 registered voters from each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts, one of the most difficult states in which to obtain ballot access. Despite these political barriers, the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign will submit more than 15,000 signatures.

Christina Qura, Virginia Nader/Gonzalez Roadtrip Coordinator, and Dena Cottle, 2008 VA State Coordinator, will be joined by other Nader/Gonzalez supporters in a news conference at 10 a.m. outside on the front steps of the State Capitol Building, N. 9th St and Grace St, Richmond, VA, 23219.

Virginians are concerned about the lack of a comprehensive statewide transportation strategy, the polluting of their rivers and the Chesapeake Bay, the loss of jobs to NAFTA, off-shoring jobs by multinational corporations, and the dire affect on military families of unpopular wars funded by the Democratic Congress and Republican President. The Nader/Gonzalez ticket offers solutions to these and numerous other problems Virginians and all Americans face. Visit: http://www.votenader.org/issues/ for the detailed Nader/Gonzalez platform.

This November Virginians will have a choice: the status quo parties of Obama and McCain or the Nader/Gonzalez ticket that promises to "Shift the Power" from big business corporations to "We The People!"

WHO: Virginia Supporters of Nader/Gonzalez 2008 Campaign

WHAT: News Conference and nominating petitions submission

WHEN: 10 a.m., Fri. Aug. 22, 2008

WHERE: front steps of the State Capitol Building, N. 9th St and Grace St, Richmond, VA, 23219

About Ralph Nader
Attorney, author, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century." For more than four decades he has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and was instrumental in enacting the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from Princeton University and received an LL.B from Harvard Law School.

About Matt Gonzalez
Matt Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005, he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender, Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, a 7-attorney practice in San Francisco that represents individuals and organizations in mediation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before state and federal regulatory bodies. Gonzalez graduated from Columbia University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.

About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
According to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted from July 27-29, Ralph Nader is at 6 percent nationally (equivalent to about 10 million eligible voters), higher than his highest major poll numbers during the same time period in 2000 and approaching the 10 percent threshold required for eligibility to participate in "America's Presidential Debate in New Orleans," a Google-sponsored event scheduled for September 18. In the key swing state of Michigan -- whose Democratic voters were partially disenfranchised by the Democratic National Committee -- an EPIC-MRA poll found Nader at 8-10 percent.

For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org.

Copyright © 2008  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action