Posted on 12/29/2011 4:33:17 AM PST by markomalley
The fight to place all seven Republican presidential candidates on Virginia's primary ballot is moving toward the courts while one candidate bumped from the ballot, Newt Gingrich, insisted Wednesday that he was the victim of fraud.
The conservative Citizens for the Republic and former Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Paul Goldman said Wednesday that Virginia failed to follow its own laws in determining which candidates should make the ballot. The state delegated its duties to the political parties without double-checking their work, Goldman said.
Virginia requires candidates to submit signatures from 10,000 registered voters, including 400 from each of the state's 11 congressional districts. The rules came under scrutiny after two presidential contenders trying to get on the March 6 ballot -- Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- were rejected because they didn't have enough valid signatures. Only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas made the Virginia ballot.
Perry failed to hand in the minimum 10,000 signatures, officials said, while Gingrich, a former House speaker who calls Virginia home, barely met the threshold and fell below it when some of his signers were disqualified.
Gingrich said his campaign paid an outside group to gather petitions and someone from that group submitted 1,500 fraudulent signatures, disqualifying him.
The State Board of Elections warned candidates in March to collect 15,000 to 20,000 signatures to ensure they'd meet the 10,000-name threshold.
In a statement defending its actions, Virginia Republicans said they also informed candidates in October to get 15,000 signatures and noted that none of the campaigns "offered any complaints until after the Dec. 23 validation process had concluded." Gingrich and Perry "did not come close to the 10,000 valid signature threshold" and were properly disqualified, the party said.
Those challenging the ballot process say it's unlawful because each political party uses a different standard for certifying petitions, and neither party verifies whether a person actually signed the petition. Instead, parties cross-check names and addresses against a database of registered voters.
Goldman and Citizens for the Republic are asking state leaders to convene a special General Assembly session immediately to change the rules so that any credible candidate can appear on the primary ballot. There's a sense of urgency because absentee ballots must be printed and mailed by Jan. 21.
"There's no perfect solution, but there are better solutions than what you have," Goldman said. "It basically makes us the laughingstock of the country."
Lawmakers, however, see little reason to change a system that worked for more than a decade.
"Every statewide candidate has to do that," said Republican House Speaker Bill Howell. "These aren't outlandish restrictions. We've been living with them for years. Perhaps we need to look at the law, but we'll do so prospectively, not retroactively."
Perry filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday insisting that Virginia's ballot restrictions are unconstitutional. And Goldman and Citizens for the Republic are willing to do the same.
"The argument is we've been doing it the wrong way for years and years and we see no reason to change it," said Bill Pascoe, executive vice president for the conservative group. "I don't anticipate having to go to court. But is that an option? Sure."
VA needs to put Gingrich and Perry on the ballot.
Gingrich and Perry? What if Santorum wins Iowa? He’s also screwed.
There shouldn't be this much confusion unless it's on purpose.
I am beginning to smell a lot of Rove in this.
Gingrich and Perry tried to get the signatures. I don’t think Santorum tried.
It’s up to Virginia.
I don’t see why they let a political party, any political take over the job of Government and decide who can run and who cannot, but that is up to them.
If they wish their Primary to be a joke with only two losers on the ballot that is their decision, It only make them look irrelevant, and their primary a joke.
I thought we didn’t want activist courts...the rules are clearly published, and the campaigns screwed up. Gingrich hired people who weren’t eligible to collect signatures. Simple as that. If these guys can’t get a few details right, do we really want their fingers on the red button?
In other words the required amount was met but the VA GOP decided in November that you had to have 15,000 in order to keep your signatures from being checked.
The only two who qualified ran last election (and you will notice all the candidates were on the ballot in 2008) so it's clear the VA GOP is screwing this up.
Either check Romney and Pauls signatures too or put Newt and Perry on the ballot since they met the initial requirements.
My guess is if the checked Pauls signatures, the only person left on the ballot would be MItt Romney or are we to believe Ron Paul has enough registered Republican support in every congressional district to qualify. I doubt it.
How bad would the VA GOP look when the only choice for it's voter is Mitt Romney and you can't even write in who you would like to vote for?
I heard that the only reason Paul and Romney are on the ballot is because they were candidates in 2008 and were “grandfathered” in without the need to collect signatures. Is this true?
Time for Bill has come and gone ~ first business for the House is get a new Speaker. Second business is to FIX the law so that it encourages people to run for public office.
No wonder we end up with such idiots in the legislature.
They did this movie about this years back ~ a veritable portent ~ think it was called "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". At the time little did we imagine they could win.
What are we, the HERMIT KINGDOM or something?
The RPV bears some fault but there's a lot of misinformation.
The MittBots all wonder what the fuss is about. After all, they gave us a choice, right? We can either pull the lever for their guy, the presumptive nominee, or someone else! What could be more Democratic? < / sarcasm off >
Gingrich will need to use some of that cash to hire a good lawyer...Perry too.
what a joke...change the rules midstream...looks like something Dems would do
I never knew the GOP establishment and FOX news and so many pundits were so in the tank for Romney and were willing to do anything to force him on us.
they never speak for the base
Both Levin and Rush said they would broadcast in their hiatus if events arose.
Iowa is next Tuesday,
Well we had slavery in this country for years too...but that doesn’t it make it right.
There is way to many contradicting reports out there. For someone who wants the truth the RNC and the republican media are doing an awful lot to muddle the waters.
>>I heard that the only reason Paul and Romney are on the ballot is because they were candidates in 2008 and were “grandfathered” in without the need to collect signatures
You heard wrong.
Yeah, it’s been a mess.
The RPV put out a statement, at last, yesterday:
http://www.rpv.org/node/1037
We probably won’t hear any more until the court cases play out or an agreement is reached.
It’s just more political flim-flam. By keeping the choice between Romney and Paul, it provides a foundation to Romney as a “reasonable” choice against the “extreme” Paul.
Why confuse the sheep, er, voters with a Brand “X”, “Y”, or “Z”, when you can limit the choice to Brand “RINO” or Brand “X - The Choice of Loons”.
The Conservatives could put a major kink in that plan by voting Paul to be the face of the RNC. I chuckle to myself just thinking about it!
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