Roll, Tide, Roll...

BREAKING NEWS: Alabama seems to have the most clear-cut requirements for placing a name on the ballot that I've seen. I wrote a particularly pointed letter to the Honorable Jean Brown, Chief Legal Council at the Alabama Secretary of State's office. Here is the letter, in its entirety:

NOTE: The original letter was sent before it was intended to be. The following is the second email sent to Ms. Brown.

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Ms. Brown,

I apologize for the multiple messages. I'm not sure how my other message got sent. My tired fingers must have pressed a button they weren't supposed to!

As I was saying, Section 17-13-6 of the Alabama Code reads:

Only qualified candidates to be listed on ballots.

The name of no candidate shall be printed upon any official ballot used at any primary election unless such person is legally qualified to hold the office for which he or she is a candidate and unless he or she is eligible to vote in the primary election in which he or she seeks to be a candidate and possesses the political qualifications prescribed by the governing body of his or her political party.

My question is this: who is responsible for ensuring that each candidate is "legally qualified to hold the office for which he or she is a candidate"?

For example, the Democratic Party's "Delegate Selection Rules For the 2008 Democratic National Convention" states that:

Based on the right of the Democratic Party to freely assemble and to determine the criteria for its candidates, it is determined that all candidates for the Democratic nomination for President or Vice President shall:

a. be registered to vote, and shall have been registered to vote in the last
election for the office of President and Vice President; and

b. have demonstrated a commitment to the goals and objectives of the
Democratic Party as determined by the National Chair and will participate
in the Convention in good faith.

2. It is further determined that these requirements are in addition to the requirements set forth by the United States Constitution and any law of the United States.

I want to make sure my question is clear, so let's take Barack Obama as an example. According to the Alabama Code, Obama's name should have appeared on the primary ballot only if:

a) he was legally qualified to hold the office for which he was a candidate (President)
b) he was eligible to vote in the primary election in which he sought to be a candidate
c) he possessed the political qualifications prescribed by the governing body of his political party, which were:
i) he had to be registered to vote
ii) he had to have been registered to vote in the last election for the office of President
and Vice President
iii) he had to have "demonstrated a commitment to the goals and objectives of the
Democratic Party as determined by the National Chair"
iv) he had to demonstrate that he would participate in the Convention in good faith
AND
v) he had to meet the requirements set forth by the United States Constitution, and
vi) meet the requirements set forth by any law of the United States

That's a lot of requirements; yet, according to your law, his name couldn't have been printed upon the ballot unless he was legally qualified to hold the office AND possessed the qualifications set out by his own party. Somebody had to check his credentials before placing him on the ballot. Who was it? Or, more generally speaking, who checks the credentials of all candidates placed upon the primary ballot in Alabama, and ensures that Section 17-13-6 of the Alabama Code is enforced?

I want to thank you in advance for your time. I am certain that you are very busy, and I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my request. I will be faxing you a copy of this request as well, and ask that you respond by 5 pm, Friday December 5th. If that will not be possible, please email me with an approximate date by which I can anticipate your response.

I thank you again, and wish you a happy holiday season.

Your Fellow Citizen,

Justin W. Riggs