Barr: Remove Obama, McCain from ballot

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Libertarian U.S. presidential candidate Bob Barr says the two major party nominees should be booted from the Texas ballot for missing deadlines.

Barr, a former Republican U.S. congressman from Georgia, has filed a lawsuit in Austin, Texas, seeking the removal of Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Republican candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona, The Austin (Texas) American-Statesman reported Wednesday.

The state of Texas requires that all candidates provide "written certification" of their nomination "before 5 p.m. on the 70th day before election day," but neither McCain nor Obama had been formally nominated by their parties by then, Barr contends in the suit.

The newspaper reported the Libertarian candidate contends it's a matter of fairness, saying in the suit, "The seriousness of this issue is self-evident. The hubris of the major parties has risen to such a level that they do not believe that the election laws of the State of Texas apply to them."