Posted on 08/30/2002 8:06:11 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - Former Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. will stay on the Nov. 5 election ballot, even though he has been expelled from the House and is housed in federal prison, elections officials said Wednesday.
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The Trumbull County Board of Elections said it won't act to remove the expelled congressman from the ballot.
Prosecutor Dennis Watkins told the board it didn't have the authority to remove Traficant because the U.S. Constitution grants citizens the right to vote for and elect whomever they choose.
The only limits set by the Constitution for House members are that they be at least 25 years old, U.S. citizens and an inhabitant of the state from which they are elected.
Watkins said Traficant could be considered an Ohio resident because his wife lives there and his stay in a Pennsylvania prison is involuntary confinement.
Traficant, 61, was expelled from the House last month and sentenced to eight years in prison for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion. The nine-term congressman is an inmate at the minimum-security Allenwood federal prison in White Deer, Pa.
He petitioned to be on the ballot as an independent in Ohio's recently redrawn 17th District and vowed to run from jail.
President Bush started off on a great path: stoping the abortion money abroad was indeed a good start, but what happened to stopping ALL stem cell research, instead of the limp-wristed compromise he came up with, to stop any more NEW stem cells from being used? Did America already forget about the PATRIOT ACT?
you blame the increase in the size of the Federal government on "left-wing and libertarian parties", yet you do not give any sort of anecdotal evidence of this. It goes without saying that any "libertarian parties" are going to be against an increase in the size of government at almost any level.
if I am wrong, I would certainly like to hear your reasoning.
Taking that as a literal question and not a rhetorical one, the answer is yes, I do have a clue about Traficant.
Your confusion over who is a conservative and who is not is likely due to the fact that there are so few in Congress these days.
James Traficant -- Democrat
James Traficant -- Felon
or Ole Poodle Head -- Laughingstock?
But NEVER "winner."
My intent was to make the stripes on the flag look like jail bars...
Also, some other guy (really, it isn't me), set up FreeTraficant.com.
Thanks much for your concern, but I have very little confusion when discussing this race. You, however, seem to have difficulty assigning teams.
No difficulty, really. Just so few on my team it does not take long to count them. Goooooooo Conservatives!!!
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