Ralph Nader, known widely for his role as a consumer activist, will be on the ballot in November running for president, thanks in part to some Iowa State students.

Citizens for Nader, an Iowa Draft Nader for President Committee, is backing Nader this November for the presidential ticket.

The Iowa Citizens for Nader committee needed 1,500 signatures to get Nader’s name on the Iowa ballot, and obtained 1,800. Drew Chebuhar, president of the Ames organization, registered the organization in the summer.

“I was skeptical that we wouldn’t have enough signatures,” Chebuhar said.

Nader will be on the ballot in 21 states, and in 19 states he has official write-in status. Three states also have enough signatures, but are in litigation procedures to get him on the ballot.

“I felt like we really accomplished something,” Chebuhar said.

There are approximately 30 members on the Ames committee.

“People wanted him to run, and he wanted to run. It’s a kind of thing where we’re drafting him for president,” he said.

The members of Citizens for Nader support his platform and the issues he thinks are important. Nader’s platform is called Concord Principles.

“Nader is concerned about democracy,” Chebuhar said. “Nader appeals to young people because he goes to colleges and gets involved.”

A reason why the Citizens for Nader think he should be president is because of his ideas for the economy.

“I think that the democrats and republicans are getting too controlled by wealth and big corporations. They’re not focused on the big issues,” Chebuhar said. “None of the candidates talk about the corporate welfare issues, but Nader does.”

Jonquil Wegmann, a member of Citizens for Nader, said its committee will only stay under the name Citizens for Nader until November. The tentative name of the committee after November is ISU Progressives. One of the purposes of the committee is to help people become more aware of the power of politics.

Nader is not running on the Green party ticket, Wegmann said. “I think realistically most us realize he won’t win.”

Nader is for building solidarity among minorities and poor people, Wegmann said. “A lot of these people haven’t [gone] to the the polls because they’ve become disillusioned by politics.” Nader’s more toward civil responsibilities, she said.

Citizens for Nader is hosting a chili dinner fund-raiser this Sunday at 5 p.m., located at Collegiate United Methodist Church. The cost of the all-you-can-eat dinner is $1, and there will be vegetarian and meat chili available.

“We don’t have a specific agenda set, but we want people to come out and express their political opinions,” Wegmann said. “Not everyone in the group has the same opinions.”