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Who Needs States Rights? We Want an Activist Judge!
Author: Raine
Date: 01/02/2012 13:59:22
By now you have probably heard that the Commonwealth of Virginia has 2 of the current GOP candidates on its Primary Ballot. 2 out of 7.
Virginia's ballot access laws are among the toughest state ballot laws in the country. For statewide office, a candidate is required to collect 10 thousand signatures including 400 signatures from each of the states 11 congressional districts. Only Mitt Romeny and Ron Paul succeeded in getting on the ballot. Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich both filed petitions but were rejected for not meeting the requirements listed above.
Is the bar too high for candidates to gain ballot access in Virginia? Possibly, but that is another discussion. Right now, this is the law of Virginia. According to Article 1, section 4 of the Constitution, The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.. Basically it is a state right. This is something that is championed by many on the right when decrying the evils of over-regulation on the part of the federal government.
So what happens? Rick Perry decides to sue Virginia in federal court to have his name on the primary ballot. Basically, he is seeking one of those activist judges to circumvent the right of the state of Virginia to decide how a candidate can get their name on a ballot. From the Dallas News, December 27: Since that time, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachmann, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum have joined the lawsuit, all claiming that the law is unconstitutional. From CNN: Did you read that? Perry didn't get enough signatures, Gingrich has admitted to fraudulent actions within his campaign and the other three candidates didn't even bother to pay attention the state law regarding elections. Amazing.
As I said earlier, there is a good discussion to be had with regards to ballot access in this and many other states. The problem here is not only the hypocrisy of people like Rick Perry, but it shows how little these candidates as a whole seem to regard the Constitution and their campaign while running for the office of the President of the United States. Campaigns are more than just going on TV and having debates. Campaigns need state level infrastructure with people who are familiar with election laws state by state aqnd they need to get things in place PRIOR to the primaries. How long has this campaign be going on for? Was it that difficult for each and every one of these candidates to have volunteers and maybe a state campaign chair to ensure that this minimum requirement be met? Personally, I am of the opinion that if one cannot do this very basic thing, they should not be on the ballot. That 3 of the 5 people in this lawsuit did not even bother to file a petition shows how unseriously they seem to take the very Idea of states rights and their candidacy. Even our very conservative Attorney General stopped pushing for an immediate change to these rules: Seems as tho this particular crop of candidates are all for states rights when it suits them. A little voter fraud is ok if you don't get caught and activist judges are the devil's accomplice until they need one to do their bidding.
Happy New Year!
and 
Raine
Virginia's ballot access laws are among the toughest state ballot laws in the country. For statewide office, a candidate is required to collect 10 thousand signatures including 400 signatures from each of the states 11 congressional districts. Only Mitt Romeny and Ron Paul succeeded in getting on the ballot. Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich both filed petitions but were rejected for not meeting the requirements listed above.
Is the bar too high for candidates to gain ballot access in Virginia? Possibly, but that is another discussion. Right now, this is the law of Virginia. According to Article 1, section 4 of the Constitution, The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.. Basically it is a state right. This is something that is championed by many on the right when decrying the evils of over-regulation on the part of the federal government.
So what happens? Rick Perry decides to sue Virginia in federal court to have his name on the primary ballot. Basically, he is seeking one of those activist judges to circumvent the right of the state of Virginia to decide how a candidate can get their name on a ballot. From the Dallas News, December 27:
Perry's campaign appeared to recognize the problem of touting states rights on one hand while asking the federal government to overrule a state's law on the other. In a statement, campaign manager Ray Sullivan said: "Gov. Perry greatly respects the citizens and history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and believes Virginia Republicans should have greater access to vote for one of the several candidates for President of the United States. "Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous and are particularly problematic in a multi-candidate election. 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."
On Wednesday, Gingrich cited fraud as the reason he didn’t make it onto the ballot, laying the blame on one of his campaign's paid volunteers.
"We hired somebody who turned in false signatures. We turned in 11,100 – we needed 10,000 – 1,500 of them were by one guy who frankly committed fraud,” Gingrich said.
.....
All five candidates filing the lawsuit failed to qualify for the ballot.
Huntsman, Bachmann and Santorum did not file petitions with the Virginia State Board of Elections that would have allowed them a place in the state's primary. Gingrich and Perry filed petitions that were later rejected by the Republican Party of Virginia for not meeting requirements.
As I said earlier, there is a good discussion to be had with regards to ballot access in this and many other states. The problem here is not only the hypocrisy of people like Rick Perry, but it shows how little these candidates as a whole seem to regard the Constitution and their campaign while running for the office of the President of the United States. Campaigns are more than just going on TV and having debates. Campaigns need state level infrastructure with people who are familiar with election laws state by state aqnd they need to get things in place PRIOR to the primaries. How long has this campaign be going on for? Was it that difficult for each and every one of these candidates to have volunteers and maybe a state campaign chair to ensure that this minimum requirement be met? Personally, I am of the opinion that if one cannot do this very basic thing, they should not be on the ballot. That 3 of the 5 people in this lawsuit did not even bother to file a petition shows how unseriously they seem to take the very Idea of states rights and their candidacy. Even our very conservative Attorney General stopped pushing for an immediate change to these rules:
Critics say Virginia's requirements are too strict, but state GOP leaders say candidates knew the rules well in advance.
Cuccinelli said in a statement Saturday that ballot access laws need to be changed not for any candidate or party, but for the voters. He backtracked Sunday, saying there's no way to change the rules for the March 6 primary and still be fair to the candidates who already qualified.
Happy New Year!
and Raine
