Interesting; and a pretty strong reversal from Saturday’s statement.

“I obviously feel very strongly that Virginia needs to change its ballot access requirements for our statewide elections,” Cuccinelli said in a statement.

“However, after working through different scenarios with Republican and Democratic leaders to attempt to make changes in time for the 2012 presidential election, my concern grows that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns that qualified even with Virginia’s burdensome system.

“A further critical factor that I must consider is that changing the rules midstream is inconsistent with respecting and preserving the rule of law — something I am particularly sensitive to as Virginia’s attorney general.”

Read More →

Interesting; and a pretty strong reversal from Saturday’s statement.

“I obviously feel very strongly that Virginia needs to change its ballot access requirements for our statewide elections,” Cuccinelli said in a statement.

“However, after working through different scenarios with Republican and Democratic leaders to attempt to make changes in time for the 2012 presidential election, my concern grows that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns that qualified even with Virginia’s burdensome system.

“A further critical factor that I must consider is that changing the rules midstream is inconsistent with respecting and preserving the rule of law — something I am particularly sensitive to as Virginia’s attorney general.”

Read More →

[FURTHER UPDATE] Drudge is not reporting that Perry/Gringrich are on the ballot; but Bachmann, Gingrich, Huntsman, and Santorum have joined Perry’s lawsuit.

The Attorney General of Virginia “plans to file emergency legislation to address the inability of most Republican presidential candidates to get their names on the ballot;” as everyone reading this already knows, the recent Virginia primary ratification process ended up with only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul getting on the ballot. Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry had too many of their signatures invalidated by the process; the other candidates didn’t even try. As I understand the situation, emergency legislation will require a super-majority in the state (well, Commonwealth) legislature; but the fact that Cuccinelli is already getting bipartisan backup (and the reported support of the Governor) suggests that such a thing may be actually achievable.

Read More →

[FURTHER UPDATE] Drudge is not reporting that Perry/Gringrich are on the ballot; but Bachmann, Gingrich, Huntsman, and Santorum have joined Perry’s lawsuit.

The Attorney General of Virginia “plans to file emergency legislation to address the inability of most Republican presidential candidates to get their names on the ballot;” as everyone reading this already knows, the recent Virginia primary ratification process ended up with only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul getting on the ballot. Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry had too many of their signatures invalidated by the process; the other candidates didn’t even try. As I understand the situation, emergency legislation will require a super-majority in the state (well, Commonwealth) legislature; but the fact that Cuccinelli is already getting bipartisan backup (and the reported support of the Governor) suggests that such a thing may be actually achievable.

Read More →

This just keeps getting better and better for the Virginia GOP, doesn’t it? Via Ballot Access News, first we get the Attorney General for Virginia pointing out that the requirements for ballot access are far too restrictive:

I would throw out for consideration that we should lower our requirements to 100 legitimate signatures per congressional district.

Let’s face it, absent a serious write-in challenge from some other candidate, Virginia won’t be nearly as ‘fought over’ as it should be in the midst of such a wide open nomination contest. Our own laws have reduced our relevance. Sad.

…and suggesting that a write-in ballot is possible. Which, as a lot of people with perhaps vested interests in there not being any more candidates on the ballot would tell you, is: a, impossible; and b, so mind-bogglingly obviously impossible that anybody who suggests that such a thing would be possible would be as dumb as Newt Gingrich. Of course, some of the people who are most pushing the ‘dumb as Newt Gingrich’ bit are perhaps not entirely clear about Gingrich’s actual position:

“And we hope to launch a write-in campaign. We’re getting an amazing number of people who … believe Virginians ought to have the right to choose and shouldn’t be restricted to two people.”

When a reporter noted that state law prohibits write-in votes in Virginia primaries, Gingrich said: “There’s time for them to change it. If something’s wrong, they ought to fix it.”

Read More →

This just keeps getting better and better for the Virginia GOP, doesn’t it? Via Ballot Access News, first we get the Attorney General for Virginia pointing out that the requirements for ballot access are far too restrictive:

I would throw out for consideration that we should lower our requirements to 100 legitimate signatures per congressional district.

Let’s face it, absent a serious write-in challenge from some other candidate, Virginia won’t be nearly as ‘fought over’ as it should be in the midst of such a wide open nomination contest. Our own laws have reduced our relevance. Sad.

…and suggesting that a write-in ballot is possible. Which, as a lot of people with perhaps vested interests in there not being any more candidates on the ballot would tell you, is: a, impossible; and b, so mind-bogglingly obviously impossible that anybody who suggests that such a thing would be possible would be as dumb as Newt Gingrich. Of course, some of the people who are most pushing the ‘dumb as Newt Gingrich’ bit are perhaps not entirely clear about Gingrich’s actual position:

“And we hope to launch a write-in campaign. We’re getting an amazing number of people who … believe Virginians ought to have the right to choose and shouldn’t be restricted to two people.”

When a reporter noted that state law prohibits write-in votes in Virginia primaries, Gingrich said: “There’s time for them to change it. If something’s wrong, they ought to fix it.”

Read More →

UPDATE: The Perry campaign is taking legal action to appear on the Virginia ballot arguing the current process involves both onerous and unconstitutional requirements. Curiously, Newt has neither filed a lawsuit or hinted at possible legal action to my knowledge.

Full disclosure: I am a Rick Perry delegate representing the state of Tennessee.

Here are some musings on the Virginia ballot mess for what they’re worth. And yes, when 5  of 7 major GOP candidates are excluded from a state ballot, mess is an apt description of the situation. RedState contributor Neil Stevens tweeted that he hadn’t seen so many candidates tossed from a ballot since the Iranian Presidential election. Possibly true. Regardless, there is a certain absurdity to the whole episode, especially as the story continues to unfold.

My friends at Team Perry instructed me to gain well above the necessary signature threshold, as the Secretary of State’s office would inevitably disqualify some of the signatures. In fact, the Tennessee SoS disqualified roughly 20% of my signatures due to various signature infractions. I still managed to qualify. I mention this simply to elaborate and explain that capturing valid signatures isn’t as easy as it seems. In Tennessee, voters must print their name, sign their name and include their residence as it appeared on their registration card. Easy Peasy right? Wrong. Many seasoned citizens had a hard time reading the instructions without their reading glasses and left off a signature or complete address. Some voters included their business addresses. Disqualified. Some voters forgot to update their registration to their new address. Disqualified. Some people were embarrassed to admit they weren’t registered voters but signed my petition anyway. And since I didn’t slip any truth serum in their drinks…  Disqualified. Some signees were convicted felons. Dis–Okay. Just joking on that one (I hope). Others failed to realize their voter registration lapsed since they hadn’t voted in so long. Suffice it to say, it’s inevitable that many signatures will be thrown out during the validation process for various reasons.

Before delving deeper into this blog post, readers should first familiarize themselves with RedState contributor Moe Lane’s excellent points here.  All interested parties ought to review his analysis of the fiasco, as my reflections are based in large part on his latest assessment. If you are operating under the assumption that all you need is 10,000+ signatures and you are golden, it will change the way you play the game and use your resources. Keep in mind that Perry got into the game late and has had to play catchup w/ Mitt Romney who’s been running for President since he was in the first grade and amassing a fortune since then and Ron Paul who’s been running for President since television began appearing in color while inspiring millions of devoted followers across the fruited plain by promising to legalize pot.

All that being said, I think Newt and Perry deserve some more grace from GOP voters than Santorum, Bachmann and Huntsman, because both Newt and Perry actually organized in VA and turned in over 10,000 signatures. By all appearances, they attempted to play by the Virginia Republican Party’s rules and thought they made the ballot. The problem, it seems clear now, is that the rules changed late in the game. Whether the referees notified Perry and Newt of the rules change (or the fairness thereof) is an open question.

I contacted via Twitter a prominent political scientist familiar with Virginia politics that Virginia lawmakers ought to pass legislation enabling GOP contenders polling 5%+ an automatic ballot berth. To my surprise,  he responded to my tweet: “Something like that ought to be done. I doubt they’ll do it in time for March 6 primary–or much earlier ballot printing.” He has a good point. The logistics of conducting an election will work against Newt and Perry.

In the last 24 hours, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has called for Virginia lawmakers to reform Virginia’s burdensome ballot requirements in order to make Virginia relevant in primary contest. Although Republicans hold majorities in Virginia’s legislature, I am not optimistic they will be able to resolve this fiasco satisfactorily in time for the primary.

Alas, the only likely redress ending with Newt and Perry on the ballot involves a lawsuit. It is truly unfortunate that Virginia party leaders have mishandled this process so badly. They’ve effectively disenfranchised Virginians and reduced their primary Presidential choices to an ineffective RINO libertarian congressman who routinely dons a tin foil hat and a Massachusetts moderate who inspired Obamacare and raised taxes on businesses 20% during his one term.

One last thought: how candidates handle adversity reveals a lot about their leadership and character. Perry’s public response has essentially been muted. It remains to be seen if he will issue any more public utterances on the situation, although I think it likely he will be forced to address the dilemma sometime soon. This strategy is probably wise considering many voters haven’t been paying close attention to the Virginia ballot fiasco over the last few days. Further, it gives Team Perry time to work the VRP channels privately and see if anything can be done before issuing any additional remarks. Newt’s response, however, leaves much to be desired. Comparing the ballot snafu with Pearl Harbor is beyond ridiculous. Moreover, Newt has an unyielding proclivity to blow things out of proportion to include his opinion of himself (i.e. his comparing himself to Churchill, Thatcher and Reagan).

Headed to Iowa later this week. Talk soon!