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 ...
Don’t know, but I would expect him to be off the entire week.
BTTT
Try: http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2011/dec/23/louisa-woman-dies-car-wreck-ar-1565283/ and http://bearingdrift.com/2011/12/24/rpv-volunteer-killed-in-crash-husband-with-life-threatening-injuries/ ~ NOTE: The dead volunteer is the wife. The husband has lifethreatening injuries.
Having a primary for Romneycare and Crazy Paul is just a waste of money. Why have a primary at all?
They need to straighten this mess out or just drop the whole thing.
I don’t think the Mitbots on FR want to hear about this. Of course if there’s the slightest questionable circumstance here their boy is outta American politics.
Last thing I want is a choice between a Loser and Nutcase ~ we've done that before and it's so stupid.
Pat Mullins really has to 'splain this.
“..Anyone thinking Mr. Nice smilely Mitt is not a dirty politician has a big surprise in store..”
::::::::::::::::
When I heard his response to the questions about how his PAC was running a dirty, smear show, I knew then what this liberal was. Newt is doing a good job of throwing back some of his crap — and in a much classier manner. I do not listen to Romney anymore because any interviewer never gets straight answers and rarely the same answer to the same question. RINO.
Thanks!! I have some reading to do!
They have essentially remained unchanged since 1999.
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.
Check page 3 of the above link. You will see clearly that the address is required, which would make sense if you must provide a minimum of 400 signatures per Congressional district/
"Petition Requirements
Must be on the form prescribed by the State Board of Elections (copy enclosed). It is suggested that the candidate or group complete the top portion of the petition form and then print or photocopy as many copies of the form as needed. The form may not be altered in any way.
Must be signed by not less than 10,000 qualified voters in Virginia, including at least 400 qualified voters from each of Virginia's eleven congressional districts, who attest that they intend to participate in the primary of the same political party as the candidate named on the petition.
Because many people who are not registered to vote will sign a petition, it is recommended that 15,000 - 20,000 signatures be obtained with at least 700 signatures from each congressional district.
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.
Must, on each page, provide an affidavit signed under oath by the person who circulated it that s/he personally witnessed the affixing of the signature of each voter on the page and that s/he is registered, or eligible to be registered, to vote in Virginia.
Note that a circulator cannot witness his own signature. Falsely signing this affidavit is a felony under Virginia law.
The petition NEVER can be left unattended. It is suggested that petition pages be filed in locality order (counties followed by cities) to facilitate the processing of the filing. The State Board recommends that each petition page contain signatures from only one county or city and, therefore, circulators should prepare a separate petition page for each locality. If signatures are tracked by congressional district you may enter the district number on each petition page.
Petitions for a primary election must be delivered in sealed containers. These containers may be opened only by the State Chair of the candidate=s party. Immediately after the filing deadline, the containers, together with any required attachments (see below), will be delivered to that Chair by the State Board of Elections.
A statement, signed by the candidate under oath, setting forth his name and the number of signatures on the petitions in the sealed containers must be attached to the first container. See Suggested Oath on the next page.
No the state sets the standards and the parties are required to comply with them. It is a felony to do otherwise.
I agree that Newt/Perry should have gotten the full 15000/600. That would have ended the matter.
Passing the 10000/400 verified threshold is tough. Especially getting the 400+ sigs in the 90% Dem districts back when Newt was polling around 5-7% before Cain imploded. Searching for an eligible registered Newt voter in the NOVA DC-area before November would have been like searching for silver dimes on the sidewalk.
He realistically had only November to scramble for the sigs and jump all the hoops to get in (registered voter, right address, double-sided page, no staples, notarized every page, etc). Then he he had to get past a new computer address check system that may have been over zealous in tossing sigs.
Yes, Newt’s organization didn’t quite make it. (And my personal opinion is that he’s out.) But it is not proof positive of complete incompetency that the media is trying to portray.
u wrong
Thanks for the date information on Chairman Mullins’ letter.
Do you have any idea when the candidates were notified after the threshold numbers were changed? From the threads, it has been suggested that the signature threshold went from 10,000 to 15,000 in November (State Central Committee meeting?).
You should read the law.
BTW, the part pertaining to candidates for President does not even require addresses!
Did you read that part.
Then, we have a suspicious death, or maybe a double homicide after the signature validations ~ that's gotta' be investigated thoroughly. It's not enough for Mit and his goons to say "It' s OK ~ jus' an accydent".
No, this is not a KOINKYDINK.
Right off the bat you have an exceedingly high probability of EXCLUDING anyone who owns two properties. For the very rich, like the Koch Brothers, or the Mars Family, you have something near a 100% probability of EXCLUDING any of them ~ lord only knows how many properties they have.
I think we need to hear directly from the people examining the signatures to find out what the REAL STANDARDS were.
Frankly, no one believes you people ~ even if you were technically correct ~ no one believes any of you, and there's a dead body.
And then there's this problem with the dead body.
>>The fact that Newt had to fly back from NH on Dec 21 in a frantic effort to gather signatures one day before the deadline speaks volumes about his campaign organization. It is inexcusable for a serious candidate, especially for someone who has lived 10 years in the state, which happens to be in the community where I live as well. >>
No, the fact that you are standing up for an arbitrary law that favors perennnial candidates and more established candidates and bureaucratic control speaks volumes about your conservatism, which you have trashed for all to see over the last few days.
The notion that a candidate should have to find 400 signatures in some of the hell hole hard core Democrat enclaves in Virginia is simply a sop to the establishment machines. Your stance will certainly be discredited as this thing plays out by either Virginia GOP caving in or losing a lawsuit or by them holding their two man primary and becoming the laughingstock of Super Tuesday as on the “serious” states are even discussed.
But again, your faux conservatism and pro-bureaucratic pro-established candidates stance has been duly noted dozens of times.
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