BREAKING: Rick Perry Files Lawsuit To Get On Virginia Primary Ballot

businessinsider.com ^ | 12/27/2011 | Zeke Miller

[TBBT]

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has filed suit in federal court against the Virginia Republican Party and the Virginia Board of Elections in order to gain a spot on the Commonwealth's primary ballot. Perry was excluded after the party found he had not submitted enough valid signatures by the deadline last Thursday. His campaign submitted 6,000 of the required 10,000, according to the suit. The lawsuit alleges that Perry's 1st and 14th Amendment rights were violated by the requirement that those circulating the petitions also be eligible or registered voters of Virginia. Failure to get on the ballot is a major embarrassment for the struggling Perry campaign — but he is not alone. Another one-time GOP frontrunner, Newt Gingrich, also failed to qualify. "Gov. Perry greatly respects the citizens and history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and believes Virginia Republicans should have greater access to vote for one of the several candidates for President of the United States," Perry communications director Ray Sullivan said in a statement. "Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous and are particularly problematic in a multi-candidate election. We believe that the Virginia provisions unconstitutionally restrict the rights of candidates and voters by severely restricting access to the ballot, and we hope to have those provisions overturned or modified to provide greater ballot access to Virginia voters and the candidates seeking to earn their support."

[sockmonkey]

Rick Perry is an idiot... sorry for the multiple posts! I got a new iPad for Hanakuh and there is a learning curve for old people like me.

Oh, I thought you were just an idiot..Did you know that even Rick Perry can use an I-phone & I-Pad?

Plus, under that Idiot's Governorship, the logic chips for apple brought 1100 new jobs to TX, on top of the existing 2400 at that Samsung plant in Austin?

[COBOL2Java]

You do realize this offense against my rights deserves really serious punishment ~ now whether or not the courts will hand that out Bolling probably ought to flee to his friends in Chicago now. Maybe they can protect him.

We'll see whether Mitt looks after his employees, or whether Bolling will be thrown under the bus.

[mrsmith]

Well. I was disappointed to see he didn’t fill out his declaration until Oct 31! Talk about waiting to the last minute!

But his case sure looks good. If the Supreme Court ruled against requiring only eligible state voters to circulate petitions on purely state matters then requiring that for a national election’s primary seems doubly damned.

Loved Rehnquist’s dissent though, miss him.

[CajunConservative]

Now that there is a great zing! lol

[ez]

Steyn same reason as Beck and Coulter...dumping all over Newt with half-truths and demagoguery. Been with Newt a lot longer than Steyn. Perhaps his schtick is more powerful than his politics?

[John Valentine]

Long time no see, Mr. Smith...

It seems that many people see this as a Commonwealth of Virginia law. May be, but if so, then it is a law that uniquely applies to the Republican Party and no other, and so unconstitutionally discriminates against Republican voters by establishing ballot criteria for their candidates which differ substantially from the criteria established for other parties. Perhaps they are not arguing this point, but I think it is a valid one.

[altura]

Sounds like a boondoggle to me (whatever that is).

I’m glad Perry stepped up to the plate with this lawsuit.

But that’s Perry.

I guess Newt will chime in now.

[altura]

Well, he’s smart enough to file a lawsuit to challenge this mess.

And, hate to say, but people whose argument is phrased as;

“Rick Perry is an idiot” are idiots.

[Future Useless Eater]

what a putrid writer, this Zeke Miller. You can tell he is a liberal punk.

He calls Gingrich "another one-time GOP frontrunner" ... duh, how about "THE GOP frontrunner"

He implies Perry ONLY submitted 6,000 of the required 10,000, so ANYONE reading the story would have NO SYMPATHY for Perry and think him a kook for the lawsuit.

On Friday, per the WashPo, "Perry’s campaign told state election officials it had submitted 11,911 signatures" Does that mean OTHERS submitted the remaining 5,911 for him? Does it mean that 6,000 were disqualified for having an out-of-state gatherer?

How about pointing out relevant facts Mister Zeke Miller? like...

For STATE offices, Virginia law requires the petition gatherer to be "a qualified voter, or qualified to register to vote, for the office for which he is circulating the petition". THAT does not mean he has to be a Virginia resident, just someone qualified to vote for President. § 24.2-506 ... But more importantly... Presidential primaries have a SEPARATE controlling law: ( § 24.2-545 ) there is no such requirement at all for the petitioner. The petition gatherer could be from Abu Dabi and not even a citizen.


Virginia law also REQUIRES an address on petitions for state offices: § 24.2-506

...signed by the number of qualified voters specified below after January 1 of the year in which the election is held and listing the residence address of each such voter.

Virginia law does NOT require an address on petitions for Presidential Primaries: § 24.2-545

This law regulating primary signatures is clearly separate. § 24.2-545 specifically does NOT require addresses, nor the signatures to be taken after January 1st.

B. Any person seeking the nomination of the national political party for the office of President of the United States, or any group organized in this Commonwealth on behalf of, and with the consent of such person, may file with the State Board petitions signed by at least 10,000 qualified voters, including at least 400 qualified voters from each congressional district in the Commonwealth, who attest that they intend to participate in the primary of the same political party as the candidate for whom the petitions are filed. Such petitions shall be filed with the State Board by the primary filing deadline. The petitions shall be on a form prescribed by the State Board and shall be sealed in one or more containers to which is attached a written statement giving the name of the presidential candidate and the number of signatures on the petitions contained in the containers. Such person or group shall also attach a list of the names of persons who would be elected delegates and alternate delegates to the political party’s national convention if the person wins the primary and the party has determined that its delegates will be selected pursuant to the primary. The slate of delegates and alternates shall comply with the rules of the national and state party.

It is reasonable for some voters to understand that Virginia law has NEVER required the address on those primary petitions. It is optional, just like the SSN on the presidential petition form is also optional.



OR point out there was a recent Virginia court precedent where a petition gatherer was slightly in error on something, and the judge ruled that the voter should not be disenfranchised. The voter's intent to sign the petition outweighed the slight technical difficulty.

QUESTION: Shouldn't Newt be filing a similar lawsuit? Isn't it likely that Perry will get judicial relief but not others who do not complain? Wouldn't greater numbers of legal challenges help tip the scales?

Then, there is also the issue of the last-minute change.


http://www.rpv.org/sites/default/files/2012%20Petition%20Certification%20Process_1.pdf

This un-dated "Safe Harbor" letter is the smoking gun that could sink Romney-conspirators in the Virginia R.P. office, including Executive director: David Rexrode,


Chairman: Pat Mullins,


and maybe even Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling

---

Gideon7 correctly pointed out that the letter was CREATED in WORD on 12/21/2011.
Some freepers have suggested maybe that's just the date the letter was scanned, but no way... You can tell by zooming in close with a PDF editor that the characters and images are all perfect. This was not a scanned document.

It was, as the document indicates internally, CREATED on 12/21/2011 using Microsoft WORD.

Furthermore, the file also indicates the Author. Just open up this file with WordPad, and search for "2011", and on that line you will find the author...

<</Author(Dave Rexrode) ...... /CreationDate(D:20111221100053-05'00') /ModDate(D:20111221100053-05'00')

Why this is important is that ONE DAY EARLIER, Tuesday 12/20, Lt. Gov. Bolling had personally delivered 16,026 petitions for Romney. This letter guarantees that Romney's petitions would NOT be examined. They could NOT be challenged even if 90% said "Mickey Mouse" and showed no addresses. Meanwhile nearly every other candidate will fail the newly planned anal microscopic-signature checking [even though state law for Presidential Primaries § 24.2-545 does not require street addresses]. Without this letter, they feared Romney could be booted from the ballot too.

Mister Rexrode has even been so brash as to quote to the NY Times and others that Gingrich can do nothing about this... "Gingrich may appeal the party's decision to its State Central Committee, but Dave Rexrode, executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia, said there is not enough time to hold a meeting before the State Board of Elections meets Wednesday."

---

---

This is the undated letter.

The PDF file contains a hidden Microsoft Word creation date of 12/21/2011.

5 posted on Monday, December 26, 2011 12:39:11 PM by Gideon7

[Victoria Delsoul]

Woohoo! Good news. Thanks for posting this.

[glock rocks]

Damn, that's hard to read. Here...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has filed suit in federal court against the Virginia Republican Party and the Virginia Board of Elections in order to gain a spot on the Commonwealth's primary ballot.

Perry was excluded after the party found he had not submitted enough valid signatures by the deadline last Thursday. His campaign submitted 6,000 of the required 10,000, according to the suit.

The lawsuit alleges that Perry's 1st and 14th Amendment rights were violated by the requirement that those circulating the petitions also be eligible or registered voters of Virginia.

Failure to get on the ballot is a major embarrassment for the struggling Perry campaign — but he is not alone. Another one-time GOP frontrunner, Newt Gingrich, also failed to qualify.

"Gov. Perry greatly respects the citizens and history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and believes Virginia Republicans should have greater access to vote for one of the several candidates for President of the United States," Perry communications director Ray Sullivan said in a statement.

"Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous and are particularly problematic in a multi-candidate election. We believe that the Virginia provisions unconstitutionally restrict the rights of candidates and voters by severely restricting access to the ballot, and we hope to have those provisions overturned or modified to provide greater ballot access to Virginia voters and the candidates seeking to earn their support."    

Perry, whose campaign raised over $17 million in the third quarter of 2011, is also suing for attorneys' fees.  

[itsahoot]

The requirements are part of the establishments attempt to control the election, pure and simple. It is designed to help their chosen candidate, and if you keep defending this stupid scam, people might begin to think you are a Romneyite.

[TexasFreeper2009]

Can Newt somehow get in on this ?

[2111USMC]

Exactly!

This is not about the individual candidates.

This is about disenfranchising the voters of Virgina.

[altura]

Frankly, this is making Virginia look as if it’s either run by crooks or incompetents.

[Irish Eyes]

..My response was tongue in cheek as none of the people I listed are elegible or registered voters of Virginia.

;)

[mrsmith]

He’s just challenging the state law’s requirement that petition-gatherers be elegible state voters- which the SC ruled against before, and it’s requirements for the numbers of signatures.

I think this is an ‘out’ for the RPV and they’ll be glad to take it and let everyone who declared be on the ballot ( and it moots any disputes about the Party’s own procedures...)

[Victoria Delsoul]

Good point. There are issues that need to be resolved, such as if the state GOP changed the rules unfairly, or administered the rules unfairly. This should be resolved by a court. If the state GOP acted fairly, they will be vindicated. If not, then Perry will.

[seekthetruth]

Most are misapprehending what Perry’s legal argument is– It’s not that the petition signers must be registered voters; it’s that “THOSE CIRCULATING THE PETITION MUST BE REGISTERED VIRGINIA VOTERS. ”
Got it? Virginia law currently forbids a Perry campaign worker from Texas (for example) from collecting signatures from Virginia voters on his behalf.
As cited in Perry’s Complaint, the US Supreme Court has previously ruled that such a limitation was a violation of the 1st Amendment. (Colorado case).
Have to believe that this fiasco will be settled with all candidates out of Court.

THANK YOU! Finally some truth is brought forward! It also needs to be known that the new rules required that a certain number of petitions had to be from EACH county in Virginia. Perry's campaign workers turned in over 11,000 petitions and only 6,000 qualify????

[wolfman23601]

What makes you think Bolling is any more responsible than McDonnell? McD has mucj more power and much more to gain.