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A federal judge on Friday tossed out a challenge to the constitutionality of Virginia's law governing access to the state's primary election ballot.
The ruling is a setback for the four Republican candidates who failed to qualify for the state's March 6th primary -- Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Jon Hunstsman, and Rick Santorum.
The Virginia law contains the nation's strictest requirement for number and geographic origin of signatures. And it specifies that petitions to gather signatures can be circulated only by Virginia residents, denying candidates the opportunity to use out-of-state volunteers.
Federal Judge John Gibney said Friday that they challengers have a point and might have prevailed on their claim that the residency requirement for circulating petitions is unconstitutional. But he said they waited too long to raise it.
Knowing full well what the state's requirements where, he said, they nonetheless circulated petitions in accordance with the state law. "They waited until after the time to gather petitions had ended and they had lost the political ballot to be on the ballot," Gibney said.
"In essence, they played the game, lost, and then complained that the rules were unfair," he said. Some legal experts predicted just this outcome, because a long-standing legal doctrine bars lawsuits under such circumstances.
What's more, the judge said, the state is far along in the election process. Ordering the state now to put the challengers on the ballot "would deprive Virginia of its rights not only to conduct the primary in an orderly away but also to insist that a candidate show broad support," Gibney wrote in a legal opinion accompanying his order.
Gibney discounted the challenge to the number of signatures the state requires. But he said the candidates have a better argument regarding the ban on allowing non-Virginia residents to circulate petitions.
That provision, the judge said, "directly infringes on the First Amendment rights of candidates, voters, petition circulators, and political parties" to spread their message.
Lawyers for the four candidates said nothing after the ruling about a possible appeal, and their odds of prevailing diminish each day as deadlines come and go to prepare for the primary.
Professor Richard Hasen of the University of California at Irvine Law School, who predicted in December that the judge would conclude the claim was filed too late, said the decision at least provides a foundation if other candidates chose to take up the fight in a future election year.
"This Pyrrhic victory for Perry will help future candidates in Virginia, assuming it is upheld on appeal," Hasen said.
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Sorry Newt etc. - but the rules are the rules!
It's called organization...
I not in the least bit surprised by this ruling.
PS: At this point, does it matter anyway?
Hi Feisty,
As far as SC, I'm for Newt, Perry or Paul, because Willard need to be taken down a notch. However, VA may be a cake walk for Willard.
I agree completely!
By the time VA rolls around the fat lady will of already sung! ;o)
...the fat lady will have already sung....
I didn't know Governor Christie could sing!! Learn something new every day, I guess...
OMG - I had not seen Gov. Krispy Cream in a while!
The man is morbidly obese & unless he makes some MAJOR life-style changes, will not be around to see his children graduate High School!
They rigged the rules and should suffer for it. It's called blowback.
Good! sanity prevails
I could have told them the predicted outcome even before they went *&^%$ with that liberal judge.
I am not crazy about Newt anyway. He is not going to be the nominee so this should not matter.
Wow...totally forgot this case was being heard today.
Wouldn't it have been the far more "liberal" thing to do to rule in Perry's favor and basically throw out the law?
Seems fair enough to me...the time to question the requirements is before you even start your campaign and not after the deadline has passed.
Exactly, Da Noid. This judge was recommendedby two Democratic senators and appointed by President Obama. If he was acting in a partisan manor he would have rules in favor of Gingrich, Perry, Santorum, and Huntsman. That would have allowed th GOP clown car to continue to roll on to it's self destruction. Virginia has the right to set the laws for it's primary. After all isn't that what the GOP preaches that the Feds don't know what they are doing and the local and state governments do. Having to show a ID when you vote is a good idea so why isn't allowing only state residents can collect petition signatures.? Don't both protect the vote from fraud?
Newt and his ilk wrote the law to keep third parties off the ballot. Blowback.
Da Noid... Rules are rules. The judge was right. They didn't do what they needed to do to get on the ballot. They have no one to blame but themselves. SUE because you are incompetent? They want to be President??..... sooooo laughable.
Every legally entitled person in America should have the right to vote in the Federal election and for this reason their should be Federal guidelines in determining who has the right to vote. As far as State elected officials go if a State wants to bar some of its voters from casting a ballot be that as it may. It serves them right for putting in office those who write those guidelines. The right to vote is a fundamental right of the American Constitution and no State should have the right to bar any citizen from exercising that right when it comes to electing Federal candidates. In so far as the primary or caucus or whatever it is called by the States, I say let them have their statutary right to play God also. They may cut down on the idiots running in a dog and pony show. If those candidates feel maligned by not having their names on the ballot in Virginia, its a taste of how the American people feel about Congress at large today. We feel left out as well.
Rules is Rules...but maybe Va. should rework that requirement thing to make it more likely that the candidates can get on the ballot...
Haha! Newt can't get on the ballot IN HIS HOME STATE!
The way the GOP is going, the fat lady will probably forget the words. Seriously, I believe paid signature gatherers should not be permitted. If the sponsors can`t get enough in- state support for what they want, then tough. Here in Wash state paid signature gatherers are allowed, and we get way too much stuff dumped on the ballot. There is a guy here who makes a living pushing initiatives. Initiatives and referenda should be a matter of public volunteer effort. No paychecks involved.
good point......as a matter of fact.......
"Charity Rorie, a mother of four, sat in her Mishawaka, Ind., kitchen, stunned that her name appeared on a 2008 Democratic presidential primary petition for then-candidate Barack Obama."
"That's not my signature," she said, her signature is "absolutely" a fake. She also said she was troubled someone forged both her signature and that of her husband, Jeff, and listed personal details such as their address and birthdays."
"It's scary," Rorie said. "It's shocking. It definitely is illegal. A lot of people have already lost faith in politics and the whole realm of politics, so that just solidifies all of our worries and concerns."
"Robert Hunter Jr. said his name was faked, too."
"I did not sign for Barack Obama," he said, adding his signature supporting the then-Illinois senator's effort to get on the primary ballot was also a forgery."
Source?
In my opinion the only GOP candidate of any true proven record is Huntsman. The problem is that the GOP does even give him the time of the day as they knew he would be a MAN OF HONOR, not like any of the clowns in the circus that are bought and sold to the lobbyists every day of the week. That is the reason that the Congress is really owned by the lobbyists!
These fools really think they don't have to follow rules! I can't believe their arrogance. Everyone except Romney and Paul missed the deadline and they had to know about the deadline. If they didn't, are they really presidential material? Could you imagine these idiots in the White House? LOL... it is truly laughable.
I assume then that you are really horrified at what happened in Indiana in '08 when a lot of signatures were forged to get Obama on the ballot there.
Proof please.
Good luck with THAT!
Leona's response wil be
A.) Run away & spam all over another thread hoping you don't find her...
B.) Tell you to 'look it up yourself' as she likes to say 'it's all over the internet'...
If nothing else, Pavlov is predicatble!
Leona,
Worst of the uninformed, unintelligible, partisan hacks. If you're getting paid on a per post basis, I do hope they deduct from your chits when your posts are so patently false, ignorant and without support. I can only hope.
Remember Leona, you can have your own opinion; that's your right. But you can't have your own facts; that's just wrong.
I pray that Romney gets the nomination.. it's good for the Democrats! I can see Romney in a debate with Obama. Priceless!
Romney: " President Obama, you said you'd have NO lobbyists in your White House and then we found out they are entering through the back door."
Obama: "There's no proof of that, is there??"
Romney: " Mr.President, you said if we gave you the $780 billion, unemployment would go below 8%. Where is that money?"
Obama: "the Unions and the "green" money pits have the money. Ask them, it's not my problem."
Romney: "Mr.President, you said you'd rise above the partisan politics and bring the 2 sides together. Instead, you've played partisan politics to the extreme and the 2 sides are more divided than they've been since the Civil War."
Obama: "Well, those Republican bullies want to make govt. cuts and Pelosi , Reid & I want to raise taxes."
LOL
Just breathe Leona! Where did you get this garbage? Give us the link please.
Loren,
you are asking for the link? lol
Romney and Obama haven't even debated yet....you didn't know that ?
I was just imagining what it would sound like since you are so eagerly waiting for them to debate.
You say it would be good for the Dems. I think you should reevaluate the situation. lol
I agree with the Virginia State rules, there should be only state residents handling the petitions. I also wish that Washington State had that rule.
The delicious part is the irony of the candidates complaining are the same ones castigating "activist judges."
One would think that they'd be applauding a judge upholding a state's established law.
If you want to balance the federal budget, then vote for Ron Paul.
As I see it the Virginia State have taken it on themselves to tell voters who they are allowed to vote for,and more importantly who they cannot. no doubt after the result they will expect it to be validated.
This is not Iran of China If I was a Virginia voter I would stay home rather than play their anti constitutional game. We can therefore strike out any result from Va as totally irrelevant.
Lets hope the other 49 states are prepared to hold a free and fair election
The GOP deserves this, after all they want to limit ballot access for millions of blacks, hispanics and seniors.