Jacqueline Salit, Director of the Committee for a Unified Independent Party whose Independence Party (NY) supported Mayor Bloomberg in 2005, today called on the Sec. of State to withold certification of Sen. Lieberman's ballot application on technical grounds, and criticized Sen. Lieberman's continuing self-identification as an Independent:

"There is mounting concern among independent voters in Connecticut that Mr. Lieberman's so called 'independent candidacy' is a fraud on the voting public," states Salit. "He is not an independent, but is rather a Democrat who availed himself of an escape hatch in state Election Law allowing to reinvent himself as an 'independent-in-name-only' candidate after he lost his own party's primary."

John Mertens, the Independent Party CT candidate for Senate, also strongly told Sen. Lieberman he had no claim to the "Independent" label two weeks ago:

"He absolutely should not be using the word 'independent,' " Mertens said. "Technically someone who petitions onto the ballot is unaffiliated -- not independent. He has no affiliation whatsoever with the Independent Party. That gets my dander up."