[+/-] Jeb Bush ignores court order, installs Nader on Florida ballot

In a blatantly partisan maneuver to give his brother a leg up on election day, Governor Jeb Bush today ordered that independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's name can appear on state ballots for the election. The move will almost certainly help President Bush in the key swing state.

The Florida Democratic Party reacted with outrage and vowed to fight it.

Last week, Florida Circuit Court Judge Kevin Davey issued a temporary injunction preventing the state from putting Nader on the 2004 ballot, siding with a Democratic challenge that the Reform Party did not qualify as a national party under state law. A hearing on a permanent injunction is scheduled for Wednesday. But Roberts said Hurricane Ivan, which is headed for Florida's Gulf coast, had raised 'a substantial question as to when such a hearing' will be held. As a result, she said, Florida's Department of State had filed an appeal against the temporary injunction. The appeal application automatically lifts the injunction, allowing the counties to put Nader's name on overseas absentee ballots, which must be mailed by Saturday.