So apparently Romney, and Dr. Paul didnt need to get the required signatures to get on the ballot. They could have slacked off, and sued VA... http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/31/virginia-attorney-general-intervenes-in-gop-primary-ballot-dispute/#ixzz1i8d33gyj Virginia AG Intervenes in GOP Ballot Dispute as Blocked Candidates Join Suit By Carl Cameron Published December 31, 2011 AP Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is intervening in his state's presidential primary dispute and plans to file emergency legislation to address the inability of most Republican presidential candidates to get their name on the ballot, Fox News has learned. Meanwhile, four GOP candidates on Saturday joined fellow candidate Rick Perry's lawsuit against the state, urging the Board of Elections to either allow them on the ballot or at least refrain from taking any action until a Jan. 13 court hearing. Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul qualified for the Virginia primary, a contest with 49 delegates up for grabs. Perry and the four candidates joining the lawsuit -- Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman -- did not. The failure of other candidates to qualify led to complaints that the 10,000-signature requirement is too stringent. Cuccinelli, who is a Republican, shared the concerns and plans to take them to the legislature while the candidates work through the courts. "Recent events have underscored that our system is deficient," he said in a statement Saturday. "Virginia owes her citizens a better process. We can do it in time for the March primary if we resolve to do so quickly." Cuccinelli's proposal is expected to state that if the Virginia Board of Elections certifies that a candidate is receiving federal matching funds, or has qualified to receive them, that candidate will upon request be automatically added to the ballot. Two former Democratic attorneys general are backing the move, along with a former Democratic state party chairman and a former Republican state party chairman. Former state Attorney General Tony Troy called the Virginia process a "legal and constitutional embarrassment." Fellow former top Virginia prosecutor Steve Rosenthal said: "This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. If it takes emergency legislation, then we need to do it." A spokesman for Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell appeared to defend the state's strict ballot rules, but opened the door to reexamining them. "Virginia's laws regarding ballot access are well known and have been in place for many years," spokesman Tucker Martin said. "All candidates seeking to be listed on the Virginia primary ballot in a statewide race have known the requirements well in advance. ... It is unfortunate that this year, for whatever reasons, some Republican candidates did not even attempt to make the Virginia ballot, while others fell short of submitting the required number of valid signatures." Still, Martin said, "That leaves Virginia voters with only two Republican choices in the March primary, and the governor certainly would have preferred a broader field. He is always open to reviewing how Virginia's primary system can be improved to provide voters with more choices." He said that if the legislature takes action, "the governor would review those changes thoroughly." Perry's campaign applauded Cuccinelli in a statement Saturday afternoon. "Virginia's onerous and restrictive ballot access rules do create serious constitutional problems and undermine the rights of citizens and candidates," the campaign said.
Kinda like our immigration laws. Our drug laws.. We have them but choose to ignore them or selectively use them for our purposes. If The other Republican candidates use this tactic..What does that say about their enforcing of other laws going forward ? Use lawyers like Obama to skirt intended rules..use spoken words over written laws interpreting the true intention of any rule of law?? You can see how they might fight or use lawyers right here. A true constitutional person might say..WOW..I BLEW IT.. and try and improve and impress on that factor instead of forcing tax dollars to be spent. How would these people Govern ? Only Perry has..and his history or abuse of rules is extraordinary ..even For Texas. The congresspeople only use lawyers speak and power brokerage to reinvent the policies..just like in Congress. That lack of executive ability or knowledge is appalling and should be a determining factor to voters over ability to talk in debates.
"Recent events have underscored that our system is deficient," he said in a statement Saturday. "Virginia owes her citizens a better process. We can do it in time for the March primary if we resolve to do so quickly." Is it the system or the candidates? Romney and Ron Paul managed to figure the system out and get on the ballot. I would think Virginia owes her citizens candidates who make the effort to comply with the rules. The amusement factor here is that if the shoe were reversed the Conservatives would be cackling about this example of "liberal incompetance"- and I have to admit I am enjoying this example 'Republican incompetance".
Statement from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli on changing Virginias ballot access law for the March primary: I obviously feel very strongly that Virginia needs to change its ballot access requirements for our statewide elections. However, after working through different scenarios with Republican and Democratic leaders to attempt to make changes in time for the 2012 Presidential election, my concern grows that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns that qualified even with Virginias burdensome system. A further critical factor that I must consider is that changing the rules midstream is inconsistent with respecting and preserving the rule of law something I am particularly sensitive to as Virginias attorney general. My intentions have never focused on which candidates would be benefited or harmed, rather I have focused on what is best for Virginias citizens, as hundreds of thousands of Virginians who should have been able to make their choices among the full field of presidential primary contenders have had their number of choices reduced significantly. My primary responsibility is to the people of Virginia, and how best to fulfill that responsibility in these particular circumstances has been a very difficult question for me. I believe consistency on the part of public officials is an important attribute. And I believe that Virginians are best served by an attorney general who consistently supports the rule of law. That leads to my conclusion that while I will vigorously support efforts to reduce the hurdles to ballot access in Virginia for all candidates, I will not support efforts to apply such changes to the 2012 Presidential election. I do not change position on issues of public policy often or lightly. But when convinced that my position is wrong, I think it necessary to concede as much and adjust accordingly. http://hotair.com/archives/2012/01/...ange-the-rules-in-the-middle-of-the-election/
