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the rules were allegedly drastically changed. In November of this year.

Yes, Good point, This Virginia situation is a HUGE mess. There are MANY problems with what the RPV has done.

In the case of Osborne v. Boyles, on October 24th independent state delegate candidate Michael Osborne filed suit ... So, YES, the recent change was likely based on that.

But in addition to that flaw, Osborne was running for a STATE office, not a Presidential Primary.

http://www.varight.com/news/virginia-may-have-improperly-excluded-signatures-from-perry-gingrich-a-recount-may-be-needed/

Virginia law 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.

I believe there is also 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.

P.S. I wonder how many Romney petitions were gathered by ACORN spin-offs,
and say just "Mickey Mouse" or "Donald Duck"? We may never know because Romney got tipped off
that 15000 would be the magic number where no petitions are examined!

(Gingrich-haters, please do not address or reply to me.)

Deadlines, Duties and Ballot Access Requirements Presidential Primary Election Tuesday, March 6, 2012 ADOPTED BY THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS ON MAY 25, 2011

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.

“Yes, Good point, This Virginia situation is a HUGE mess. There are MANY problems with what the RPV has done. “

Why would organizations for candidates collect just enough signatures, and not keep going until they were absolutely sure they had enough that would stand scrutiny?

This is a failure of political organization, in my opinion. While this is Virginia, after all, and everyone is surprised when something changes, isn’t there a rational adult in the Gingrich or Perry campaigns that could stand up and say “let’s collect 15,000 signatures and be sure of success”?

Romney did what every campaign should have done - collect to the level where you can be sure you have enough signatures. Why did Gingrich and Perry have junior-league campaign staff in Virginia? Did they not really want their candidate to have a secure spot on the primary ballot? What stopped them from doing the same thing that Romney staff did?

Is that not a fair question to be asking? I’m not voting for Romney - but you have to admit his campaign staff did what they should have under Virginia Statutes - they didn’t have to worry about any variables - they got it done. Why didn’t Gingrich or Perry staff get it done?

I am not a lawyer either but I have had years of experience in being involved in writing state and local laws. My take on what is presented for Virginia is as follows: 1) There is certainly a written, and probably established, distinction as to 24.2-506 for State Office being separated from 24.2-545 for Presidential Primaries. 2)There are a number of specific requirements listed in 24.2-506 which are not specific to 242-545 e.g. listing of residence and each signature being witnessed. 3) Both sections do require petitions be submitted by qualified voters but each separate section does not reference the other as to being joined on this requirement. 4)There is no joining of the two sections as to information on the ‘form’ prescribed by the State Board; as such the ‘form’ could be the same or different for the sections. My thinking is that in a scrupulous legal/social context a person who can demonstrate a valid elector support should go the complete legal route to validate eligibility for the primary election.