Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (who by the way as a disclaimer I am supporting for Governor in 2013 and I have advised him of this fact!) has come out for sensible ballot access reform:
“It now appears that the only two candidates that will be on Virginia’s ballot on March 6th: Governor Mitt Romney and Congressman Ron Paul,” Cuccinelli says. “While I’m glad for them, it screams out for making our ballot more accessible.”
“I have had the opportunity to talk to a number of the candidates and their campaigns in the last month or so, and the Bachmann folks tell me that Virginia is the third hardest ballot access state in the country. I personally don’t think that’s a good thing.” * * * “I would throw out for consideration that we should lower our requirements to 100 legitimate signatures per congressional district.”
I think it is time for a ruling that this RPV decision should be unconstitutional as applied and allow at the very least Perry and Gingrich on the ballot with the possibility that we apply the 100 signature per congressional district for the other candidates. The reward for Romney and Paul is one and two on the ballot position based on actual signatures filed.
UPDATE: Apparently Perry is going to file that lawsuit to get on the ballot. Here‘s the story:
“Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous and are particularly problematic in a multi-candidate election,” Perry campaign communications director Ray Sullivan said in a statement published by National Journal.
“We believe that the Virginia provisions unconstitutionally restrict the rights of candidates and voters by severely restricting access to the ballot, and we hope to have those provisions overturned or modified to provide greater ballot access to Virginia voters and the candidates seeking to earn their support.”
Nothing like a good fight. But where is Newt Gingrich? We’ll see what happens. But what the Attorney General could do is say three words: Unconstitutional as applied.
Article written by: Elwood "Sandy" Sanders
