Perry loses round 1 in Virginia ballot battle

AP - El Paso Times | 12-29-2011 | AP

[TitansAFC]

Link only:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/texas/ci_19640173

[Utmost Certainty]

I still don’t understand why it makes any rational sense to expect a candidate to get 10-15k signatures in order to appear on a state’s primary ballot. Seems like an awfully outmoded requirement.

[muawiyah]

So, Gibney asked why Perry was in federal court? Recalling clearly that the Constitution gives the federal government some degree of authority in federal elections (President, Vice President, Senator, Representative), it's pretty obvious why he's there.

That's why George Bush was there and the Algore objected to that.

Since then it's been the Democrat argument that election problems should never go to the USSC ~ but they can go to DOJ.

I think Gibney is going to hold a hearing on the 13th and make an immediate ruling that he doesn't have jurisdiction.

That's another reason for tarring and feathering the top Republican office holders in Virginia. They have caved in to the Democrats.

[livius]

The problem is that even if he decides in favor at the hearing on the 13th, this is going to mean the ballot would have to be reprinted and VA is not going to like that.

This was all a set-up. Gingrich and Perry should both simply withdraw their names from the ballot.

Let Romney and Paul run against each other. And completely devalue the VA vote.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Live link:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/texas/ci_19640173

[ridesthemiles]

Does this problem/ruling only apply to the Primary?

Or does it carry over to the General Election in November??

[livius]

No, this is for the primary. But the problem is that in VA the delegates are committed for the convention, which is the formal nomination, so therefore they can only vote for Romney or Paul (whoever wins).

I’m not sure if this is just a first-round thing, though. I don’t live in VA. But there are some states where the delegates have to vote for the winner of the state primary in the first round of balloting, but if there is another round, they are released.

Anybody from VA know?

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Why can’t they disqualify the State of Virginia from the convention over this? Reject all of their delegates, since they have skewed the entire process?

Does anyone know?

[COBOL2Java]

Oh, I dunno. Maybe because the Republican Establishment is all for greasing the skids for Mittens?

[TitansAFC]

The Estalishment isn’t going to DQ Virginia for doing what they wanted them to do.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Yup, I admit, it was a pretty dumb question on my part.

But let me reiterate, that what I outlined is what SHOULD happen.

This whole thing is a nightmare. Obama will win if Romney gets the nomination, and maybe the GOP really does rig elections after all, just like the Democrats do. They are certainly manipulating this one for sure!

[blueyon]

http://www.elpasotimes.com/texas/ci_19640173

[elvis-lives]

The rule is to keep small, fringe candidates from wasting the state party’s resources. So how is Paul on and the rest of the field off?

[Timber Rattler]

Here's the backdrop of what's going on in Virginia.

Bob McDonnell to drop by Mitt Romney event in Richmond

McDonnell and Romney meeting Wednesday

Virginia Gov. McDonnell Almost, Sort of, Endorses Romney

Governor McDonnell wants to be Romney's VP pick and I wouldn't be surprised if they have made some kind of secret deal....McDonnell gets serious consideration for the slot if he and the VA State GOP help Romney rig the primary.

[JediJones]

Perry does have a good point. What if you, all by yourself, want to run for president but you’re from another state? If you’re running a one-man campaign, you’re legally barred from collecting your own signatures. But a Virginian candidate can do so. Seems like a clear violation of equal protection.

[muawiyah]

Reprinting is cheap and easy. What is a little more difficult is making the deadline imposed for sending it on its way to military absentee voters.

Now seriously, what troops out there would want to vote for either of these guys?

But I'm sure the printer (and they are all really hungry for business these days) can get 'er done!

[af_vet_rr]

I still don’t understand why it makes any rational sense to expect a candidate to get 10-15k signatures in order to appear on a state’s primary ballot. Seems like an awfully outmoded requirement.

I still don't understand why people didn't expect the signatures to be verified. "They didn't verify in the past" is not an excuse, especially when you're talking about people like Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich who support voters showing ID to vote.

A cousin of mine who is a Rick Perry supporter was complaining that the signatures were verified, yet she sent me an email a while back about how Rick Perry supporters Voter ID laws. What the Hell? How can you support people showing an ID to verify who they are, but not support signatures being verified.

I also don't get why Perry is going to a federal court over a state matter, since he's a big states-rights proponent, but that's for another thread.

[af_vet_rr]

Perry does have a good point. What if you, all by yourself, want to run for president but you’re from another state? If you’re running a one-man campaign, you’re legally barred from collecting your own signatures. But a Virginian candidate can do so. Seems like a clear violation of equal protection.

Then you might as well nationalize the primaries.

And does anybody know exactly how many signatures Perry submitted? I've seen 6,000 and I've seen over 10,000.

[JediJones]

So would it be legal for a state to say nobody who is from any other state besides theirs is allowed to be in their primary?

[af_vet_rr]

So would it be legal for a state to say nobody who is from any other state besides theirs is allowed to be in their primary?

We're starting to mix state politics with party politics. The national GOP could simply refuse to accept Virginia delegates or cut the number of delegates accepted if the Virginia GOP did something boneheaded like supporting that. The national GOP has reduced the number of delegates in the past when it wasn't happy with the state GOP primaries.

But that raises another issue - the national GOP could "punish" the Virginia GOP for it sticking to the 10,000 signatures and verifying them, and so far I've heard not a peep out of the national GOP on this issue as far as reducing the number of delegates.

The issue I raised is that if you have the federal courts go in and dictate to states that they can't verify the signatures and have to allow Perry/Gingrich on the ballot, then we've gone down the slope a little bit more.