FYI. I don’t know if this is newsworthy or not, but if true it may be helpful to the Gingrich and Perry campaigns.
Newsworthy all right, if it’s true.
Here’s a confirming report on it:
Delegate hopeful Michael Osborne files lawsuit
Oct 25, 2011
Excerpt:
BRISTOL, Va. – Claiming the state’s election laws treat independent candidates like himself unfairly, Michael Osborne filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging how Virginia reviews its candidate petitions and asking a judge to remove his opponent’s name from the ballot in next month’s election.
“The way [state election officials] deal with the signatures on those petitions is discriminatory to independent candidates,” said Osborne, an independent candidate who is running for the Virginia House of Delegates 5th District seat in the Nov. 8 election.
In the lawsuit, which Osborne filed in the Bristol Virginia Circuit Court, the independent candidate asks a judge to issue an injunction removing Republican Israel O’Quinn’s name from the ballot because the review process Boyles conducted of his qualifying petitions was inadequate.
Osborne’s lawsuit also asks a judge to bar the defendants, 5th District Chairman Brandon Boyles and Donald Palmer, secretary of the Virginia Board of Elections, from certifying any candidates until they have developed “a standardized qualification process that can be checked to ensure fair and equal application of the law.”
According to the state’s election laws, candidates seeking a seat in the state house of delegates must collect signatures from at least 125 registered voters who live in the district they hope to represent to get their names on the ballot in an upcoming election.
But the rules independent candidates must follow when reviewing their petitions differ greatly from those party-affiliated candidates like Osborne’s opponent, Republican Israel O’Quinn, must follow in order to get their names on the ballot. It’s this difference that lies at the heart of Osborne’s suit.
According to the law, independent candidates must submit their petitions to the local registrar’s office so that a person can review them and make sure each signature came from someone who lives inside the district and is registered to vote.
Any signature that fails to meet either one of these qualifications is disqualified, as are any signatures that have been collected by someone who lives outside the district or isn’t registered to vote. The names of candidates who fail to meet the 125-signature-requirement after this review are not placed on the ballot.
However, people seeking the Republican or Democratic Party’s nomination for a particular office must simply turn their petitions over to their local party officials who are then responsible for reviewing each signature and making sure it follows the rules.
Any candidate who submits a set of petitions to the local party chairman, in this case 5th District GOP Chairman Brandon Boyles, deems legitimate is added to the ballot in a primary election. The winner of this primary is then declared the party’s nominee and is added to the ballot in the general election.
Here’s the timeline.
2008 Primary: The VA GOP (rpv.org) instructs all candidates to get 10000 sigs, with 15000 as a safety margin. This repeats the recommendations of the State Board of Elections. All candidates do submit 10000+ sigs. The VA GOP waives the requirement to verify the signatures and submits them without checking.
May 2011: The VA GOP instructs all candidates to get 10000+ sigs, with 15000 as a safety margin (same as 200.
July 2011: Candidates are allowed to begin collecting signatures.
October 2011: Some guy named Osborne, who is running in a state election, files a lawsuit protesting that the no-check rule is unfair.
November 2011: In reaction to the lawsuit, the VA GOP decides to change the no-check rule for presidential primaries. They increase it from 10000 sigs to 15000 sigs. They send an electronic notice (e-mail or fax) to all candidates advising of the rule change.
For whatever reason Newt’s campaign didn’t get the notice. The e-mail/fax was never received or misrouted, unclear.
December 2011: The Gingrich campaign announces they have over 10000 sigs (the requirement) and are pushing for 15000 to meet the recommended number (see May above). At this point they believe they have breathing room. Getting 15000 is not essential just a good cushion so they aren’t too worried.
December 21, 2011: The VA GOP publishes an undated letter announcing the rule change.
http://tinyurl.com/8yxgw69
The PDF contains a hidden Microsoft Word creation date of 12/21/2011. This is the first public announcement of the rule change AFAIK.
Newt’s campaign freaks out at the surprise rule change (claims ‘Pearl Harbor’). Now getting 15,000 sigs isn’t nice-to-have but absolutely essential. Newt flies to VA to scramble to get 15,000 sigs.
Newt’s campaign turns in 11,000 sigs, short of the new rule’s 15,000 no-check requirement.
December 23: Because Newt/Perry are below 15,000 sigs the VA GOP runs the sigs through a computer-based address checking system. This has never been done before, not in 2008 nor prior primaries, for any candidate. Enough sigs are rejected to toss Newt and Perry off the ballot. The VA GOP announces this on Twitter.
December 27: The VA GOP turns in the final slate to the State Board of Elections.
It is unclear at this point if the VA GOP even bothered to turn in Newt’s or Perry’s petitions.