CONCORD, NH – Below is an open letter from GOP Presidential candidate Andy Martin of NH, to Secretary of State Bill Gardner, asking that Bernie Sanders name be removed from the NH Primary Democratic ballot.
Martin was scheduled to deliver the complaint Nov. 12 to Gardner in Concord, following a news conference.
Martin has been around NH politics for many years and is considered a perennial candidate who is, no surprise, currently running for president as a Republican.
Also, it’s notable to add that the New York Times wrote about Martin in 2008, “The Man Behind the Whispers About Obama,” following up on the “birther” controversy, including the following summation:
It was not Mr. Martin’s first turn on national television. The CBS News program “48 Hours” in 1993 devoted an hourlong program, “See You in Court; Civil War, Anthony Martin Clogs Legal System with Frivolous Lawsuits,” to what it called his prolific filings. (Mr. Martin has also been known as Anthony Martin-Trigona.) He has filed so many lawsuits that a judge barred him from doing so in any federal court without preliminary approval.
He prepared to run as a Democrat for Congress in Connecticut, where paperwork for one of his campaign committees listed as one purpose “to exterminate Jew power.” He ran as a Republican for the Florida State Senate and the United States Senate in Illinois. When running for president in 1999, he aired a television advertisement in New Hampshire that accused George W. Bush of using cocaine.
In the 1990s, Mr. Martin was jailed in a case in Florida involving a physical altercation.
We’ll keep you posted on what, if anything, Gardner says about this filing. – CR
Hon. William Gardner
c/o Ballot Law Commission
State Capitol
Concord, NH
COMPLAINT CHALLENGING THE LEGALITY OF BERNIE SANDERS RUNNING AS A DEMOCRAT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE –
REQUEST FOR REMOVAL OF SANDERS NAME FROM PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY BALLOT
Dear Secretary Gardner:
I would like to file a Complaint with the Ballot Law Commission asking that the name of Bernie Sanders be removed from the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primary ballot. Mr. Sanders is clearly ineligible to appear in New Hampshire on a Democratic Party ballot.
By filing this Complaint I mean no disrespect to Senator Sanders. I find him entertaining and provocative and I occasionally even agree with him. But he is clearly ineligible as a matter of New Hampshire law to appear on a Democratic Party primary ballot as a “Democrat.”
Mr. Sanders claims that he can run as a Democrat in New Hampshire “because there is no party registration in Vermont.” That claim is a complete red herring.
The reason Sanders is ineligible to run as a Democrat in New Hampshire is because he was elected as an Independent, and by his own admission is currently serving as an Independent in Vermont. Certainly in so far as candidates are concerned in New Hampshire, party affiliation is not like a flag of convenience or change of underwear (to use Mr. Sanders’ own phraseology).
Parties mean something in New Hampshire.
Here is my evidence challenging Senator Sanders (see attached documentation):
- I am attaching the 2012 “Statewide Candidate Information Publication” from Vermont. The state-issued document makes clear that “The position statement(s) in this publication are written by each candidate and reflect the opinion of the candidate.” The document also claims “All candidate information was prepared and submitted to us by the candidate.” Sanders claims “Bernie is now the longest serving Independent in U. S. congressional history.” The web link is:
https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/213562/2012%20Candidate%20Info%20Pub.final.10.22.12.pdf
- On the U. S. Senate web site, Sanders as of November 11th identifies himself as an “Independent,” not a Democrat. His senate colleague from Vermont clearly identifies himself as a Democrat. The distinction between the two senators is irrefutable. In his Senate biography Sanders again claims to be “the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history.” The web links are:
http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/senators_cfm.cfm?State=VT
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/about
Since Sanders currently identifies himself as an Independent in the Senate, there is no lawful way he can run as a Democrat in New Hampshire when he claims to be an Independent in Vermont and Washington, DC. A candidate can’t switch parties from state to state, or from public office in Washington, DC to political campaign in New Hampshire.
I ask that Sanders’ name be removed from the 2016 presidential primary Democratic Party ballot and that if he objects that a hearing be conducted by the Ballot Law Commission, at which time I shall appear to prosecute my Complaint.
Sanders is, of course, free to run for president in New Hampshire as an Independent even if he is disqualified as a Democrat.
I would appreciate all responses/communication/correspondence by fax or email as I am traveling on 
a nationwide basis in my own presidential campaign and regular mail takes time to catch up. I hope the Commission will also try to accommodate my schedule.
Respectfully submitted,
ANDY MARTIN, J. D.
