Posted on 12/29/2011 12:41:28 PM PST by TitansAFC
Do you think an election should be held by someone passing a petition around town and getting people to sign it, then calling who gets the most signatures the winner?
Should people have to be called in to a polling place on a specific day to write in their choices for who should get to appear on a general election ballot?
You’re comparing apples and oranges. Being able to get on the ballot is a fundamental aspect of a free and open democratic election. There should not be a prohibitively high bar set for that. Virginia is almost saying you have to prove you’ll win the election before you’ll be considered a candidate on the ballot. That’s not reasonable.
I don’t think verifying the signatures is a legal problem. Requiring signature collectors to be residents of the state might be. What’s to stop them from saying anyone who works on your campaign has to be a resident of the state? And the other legal problem is that they changed their rules in October, long after the signature collection period had begun and campaigns had made their plans.
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