There’s a difference between a competitor and an ally.
The socialist Green Party is an ally of Goode’s, those primary wannabes were competitors.
It’s a shame they did not get the legally required signatures despite knowing the law. I didn’t bother to vote in the primary and, more importantly, attention wasn’t paid to the primary by anyone. It was a waste of time and money instead of the publicity bonus it could have been for the Party!
I don’t, however, think the Republican Party of Virginia should have conspired to evade the law for the sake of these possible candidates, despite the ‘good’ they would have gotten from doing so.
There is no evasion of law in cooperating with the competition in gathering signatures.
It’s quite creative....and...quite legal.