Is this a new scheme to keep indigent candidates off the ballot?

A candidate for a local office called me tonight and said our San Diego registrar of voters refuesd his application for a fee waiver due to indigency. (The registrar is Michael Vu--some here may remember him as the registrar who oversaw a stolen election in Cuyahoga, Ohio in which 2 people working for him were convicted of election tampering to elect Bush president. The judge said he was sure the employees were covering up for their superior, ie, Vu.)

The reason given for denying the candidate's fee waiver here was that he didn't provide an IRS statement. The rules said you have to provide a federal paper such as an IRS statement. The candidate provided proof of his Social Security benefit checks (ie, federal papers) which proved his income so low that legally he is not required to file with the IRS.

The registrar refused to give him any time to get additional paperwork (such as filing a late statement with the IRS). He was told he has 3 days to pay the huge filing fee in full, and if he can't, his name won't be on the ballot and the Republican will run unopposed. (I don't think this is done to help this specific Republican win, as these same 2 candidates ran against each other before and the incumbent Rep won by a mile. But I think it could be part of a strategy to keep all poor people off the ballot if they don't have an IRS statement.)

How can this be legal? Is this going on anywhere else? If this stands, than a lot of people who don't file with the IRS could have their candidacies blocked. What about new citizens, or young people who have perhaps not had paying jobs? Or someone who's been a housewife or battled a long illness? There are many reasons one might not have to file an IRS return.

Thankfully they picked the wrong candidate to mess with. This one is calling the CA Secretary of State and the FPPC, the Justice Dept's Civil Rights Commission, and he is going to court to seek an injunction and get the court to declare him indigent. He is a fire survivor who has had many reconstructive surgeries and has some disabilities from that.

I wonder if this is an isolated case of idiocy, or is this the latest Republican plot to keep poor people from running for office? Filing fees can run thousands of dollars for some offices in our populous area.

If anyone has a connection I can pass along to this individual, a long-time acquaintance who called me for advice, please let me know.

Please help by kicking and recommending so a lot of people can see this and get a heads up on the possible new election theft tactic -- instead of stealing votes, just boot poor candidates off the ballot entirely!