Chuck Muth: Thanks to Ross Miller, it's 'party' time in Nevada

Thanks to a ruling by Secretary of State Ross Miller, anyone in Nevada can create their own political party simply by filing some very simple paperwork. Gone is the requirement that you qualify your new party for ballot status by gathering thousands of signatures showing that you're really a real party and not just a paper party.

What opened this can of worms was huckster Scott Ashjian filing paperwork to form the "Tea Party of Nevada" last January and then going out and collecting just 250 signatures to qualify as a U.S. Senate candidate under the Tea Party name.

The objective was clear: Pump up Ashjian's already oversized ego, get him his 15 minutes of fame ... oh, and siphon enough votes away from the Republican nominee to hand Harry Reid another six-year term.

But here's the rub. While the faux Tea Party's application was properly registered with the Secretary of State, it never submitted by a June deadline the approximately 9,000 signatures required by law to actually qualify for and gain ballot status.

So longtime conservative activist Dan Burdish sent a letter to Secretary Miller requesting that his office strike the Tea Party from the ballot for failure to meet its qualification requirements. But Miller eventually ruled that the rules that applied for the Libertarian, Green and Independent American parties when they were formed didn't apply to the Tea Party.

In response, a lawsuit was filed; however, the courts have ruled that the challenge was filed too late. So the Tea Party will be on the November ballot and could very well cost Sharron Angle the election - which will surely make Secretary Miller, who harbors big political ambitions and will benefit greatly from Reid remaining in office, a very happy man.

But as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.

Since the new rules of the game allow anyone to file and create a new political party without going through the expensive and time-consuming process of gathering enough signatures to comply with the law and qualify for ballot status, Mr. Burdish and I decided that two can play this game. So on Oct. 5 we filed paperwork with the Secretary of State's office creating a conservative "Organized Labor Party."

Not only will we be fielding our own candidates in future elections who might siphon off some votes that would otherwise go to Democrat candidates, but the Organized Labor Party will be endorsing candidates from other parties in this election. In fact, to get the ball rolling let me announce right here our first endorsement: IAP candidate John Wagner for Secretary of State.

Mr. Wagner, you may now legitimately and honestly say on the stump and in campaign literature that you have the endorsement of "Organized Labor." Best of luck.

• Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a non-profit public policy grassroots advocacy organization. He may be reached at chuck@citizen

outreach.com.