Posted on 12/26/2011 8:40:42 AM PST by TBBT
Richard Winger over at Ballot Access News has an EXTREMELY interesting post (link via here) on the mess that the Virginia Republican party has found itself in over… access to the ballot in Virginia. For those coming in late, background here and here: the very short version is that the VA GOP only certified Mitt Romney and Ron Paul for its primary ballot. Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich both had too many signatures tossed; Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum, and Michele Bachmann didn’t even try. Of the seven candidates, one (Romney) had more than enough signatures (15K) to bypass the verification process entirely. All of this has caused a lot of agitation among Republicans following the primary process, of course; and not just from people who disapprove of what the VA GOP has done. There has been a good deal of defending of the outcome; and one argument heavily used in this defense has been that the campaigns all knew the rules and that previous Republican campaigns were able to get on the ballot, so clearly a competent current Republican campaign should have done so.
One small problem with that: as Winger argues, the rules were allegedly drastically changed. In November of this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
“...See Post #71. Address info is specifically required...”
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And that, my FRiend, is one big part of the problem...
The information presented at post 71 is not consistent with the language of current Virginia state law.
...which counters something the Va GOP put out about the rule, which indicates otherwise. We have competing “links” or “quotes” going here that contradict each other.
According to the document you C and P’d, you are right. My contention is that your document is not the governing one - or at least, counters language from the Va GOP that explains the law.
I am also not sure what jurisdiction a State Board of Elections has over party primaries. The parties pay for primaries as I understand it and not the state.
The state pays for general elections, and I would think that is where their juridiction ends, but not sure about Va.
It is from the VA State Board of Elections. I don’t know where you see otherwise.
The SBE promulgates rules and regs over primaries. Are you now taking issue with that? You need to readjust your worldview to take into account physical reality.
I'm really surprised actually. Certainly Mitt can't be that important to you.
Here is the state law (note that the state pays for primaries:)
§ 24.2-545. Presidential primary.
A. The duly constituted authorities of the state political party shall have the right to determine the method by which the state party will select its delegates to the national convention to choose the party's nominees for President and Vice President of the United States including a presidential primary or another method determined by the party. The state chairman shall notify the State Board of the party's determination at least 90 days before the primary date. If the party has determined that it will hold a presidential primary, each registered voter of the Commonwealth shall be given an opportunity to participate in the presidential primary of the political party, as defined in § 24.2-101, subject to requirements determined by the political party for participation in its presidential primary. The requirements may include, but shall not be limited to, the signing of a pledge by the voter of his intention to support the party's candidate when offering to vote in the primary. The requirements applicable to a party's primary shall be determined at least 90 days prior to the primary date and certified to, and approved by, the State Board.
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.
The State Board shall transmit the material so filed to the state chairman of the party of the candidate immediately after the primary filing deadline. The sealed containers containing the petitions for a candidate may be opened only by the state chairman of the party of the candidate. The state chairman of the party shall, by the deadline set by the State Board, furnish to the State Board the names of all candidates who have satisfied the requirements of this section. Whenever only one candidate for a party's nomination for President of the United States has met the requirements to have his name on the ballot, he will be declared the winner and no presidential primary for that party will be held.
C. The names of all candidates in the presidential primary of each political party shall appear on the ballot in an order determined by lot by the State Board.
D. The State Board shall certify the results of the presidential primary to the state chairman. If the party has determined that its delegates and alternates will be selected pursuant to the primary, the slate of delegates and alternates of the candidate receiving the most votes in the primary shall be deemed elected by the state party unless the party has determined another method for allocation of delegates and alternates. If the party has determined to use another method for selecting delegates and alternates, those delegates and alternates shall be bound to vote on the first ballot at the national convention for the candidate receiving the most votes in the primary unless that candidate releases those delegates and alternates from such vote.
E. The election, or binding of votes, of delegates to a political party's national convention for the nomination of that party's candidates for President and Vice President of the United States through the presidential primary process shall be considered to be equivalent to a primary for the nomination of a party's candidate.
F. The cost of the presidential primary shall be paid by the Commonwealth pursuant to the provisions of the appropriation act.
(1999, c. 972; 2000, c. 379; 2003, c. 1015; 2011, cc. 570, 584.)
“...I don’t know where you see otherwise...”
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In the link that I sent you in post 83:
VA Code does not include a requirement to collect addresses for signatures:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+24.2-545
A Louisa County woman died Friday in a single-vehicle crash near the intersection of Belsches Road and Bagby Road in Louisa County.
Gail A. Martin, 71, of Bumpass, died at the scene of the wreck after the 2010 Toyota Prius she was riding in hit a tree.
The car was driven by her husband, William F. Martin, 72. William Martin was flown to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg with life-threatening injuries.
The Martins were both wearing their seatbelts, police said. A state police investigation of the crash is ongoing.
Didn't that violate the "never be left alone" standard?
We really don't know if Newt's signatures are really OK, or if Romney's are all phony stuff concocted in a boiler room operation in Massachusetts.
>> The SBE promulgates rules and regs over primaries. Are you now taking issue with that? >>
Not taking issue with it, asking about it - especially since there is some party language that seems to contradict some S of Va language about the petitions. And if the SBE makes the rules, why does VGOP do the enforcing? At the very least, there are some equal protection arguments here on the fringes.
Which still misses the main point. The law is abritrary, overly bureaucratic, and serves absolutely no productive purpose and like all such laws and rules, should be challenged.
And in our system, those challenges happen once someone is harmed by such laws (or rules) which is exactly what has now happened in the last 48 hours. Until you have “standing” you can’t challenge a law. “Standing” happens AFTER you are harmed under most interpretations.
Baililes actually sent State Troopers out to beat up elderly nuns holding vigils in front of abortuaries. No one in Virginia has been able to trust them when political questions are at stake ~ ever since that time.
Maybe before if you count the days of "Massive Resistance".
Your point speaks to the issue of having a “State of Virginia law” being enforced and interpreted by political hacks.
I believe in most states the parties run everything up until the general election including the right not to have a primary if one is not needed.
It looks like Virginia has an inconsistent mix of State / Party control over these issues.
"Must provide the true signature, the printed full name and the full resident address of each qualified voter and the date each signed the petition. Although the last four digits of the social security number is requested, it is not mandatory that it be provided.
Assuming the doc you posted is the governing document (and I have no reason to doubt that) - who is allowed to rule on it? Looks to me like we have here a situation of VGOP folks enforcing SBE rule/law. Is that true?
If so, is that a legal problem?
Either way, it’s a stupid requirement, especially considering the lack of allowing for write ins, which is certainly unequal protection for primary candidates versus general.
Assuming the doc you posted is the governing document (and I have no reason to doubt that) - who is allowed to rule on it? Looks to me like we have here a situation of VGOP folks enforcing SBE rule/law. Is that true?
If so, is that a legal problem?
Either way, it’s a stupid requirement, especially considering the lack of allowing for write ins, which is certainly unequal protection for primary candidates versus general.
LOL. There are 11 Congressional districts in VA, 8 of them held by Reps. There are 5 million registered voters in VA. Each Congressional District contains about 650,000 people. Getting 400 registered voters from each district is not a high bar to set, particularly if you can get any voter regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof.
Yes,
I understand that the law describes the requirements,
and that the law authorizes the board to administer the law.
But is there a point where the board could exceed their authority to administer the law
and begin to introduce additional requirements that are not described in the law?
Could they, if they wanted to, require 20,000 signatures instead of the 10,000?
In addition to the administering the law,
it seems the board has also added the requirement to collect addresses and social security numbers.
Could they, if they wanted to, also require photographs and thumbprints?
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