Thursday, January 5, 2012

Suing Your Way Onto The Ballot

New American:
Five Republican candidates are angry that their names will not be appearing on the ballot in Virginia because of their failure to acquire enough petition signatures in a timely fashion. Now, they are suing the Virginia Board of Elections over the primary dispute, prompting Virginia’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to intervene. Texas Governor Rick Perry (left) was the first to launch the lawsuit against the Board of Elections, but his suit has now been joined by four other GOP candidates: Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Jon Huntsman. The suit seeks to have the Board allow the candidates back on the ballot or refrain from taking any action until a January 13 court hearing, when a district court judge will hear Perry’s challenge.
Virginia is set to print out its ballots by January 9; however, the district judge asserts that if necessary, the state will have to print ballots twice.
Perry’s office slammed the state of Virginia for what he calls its “onerous” requirements.
“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," Perry's communications director Ray Sullivan said in a statement last week.
Now the state’s Attorney General has weighed in on the action. Fox News reports, “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.”
Couldn't a bunch of regular people who wouldn't have gotten the required signatures also join this lawsuit, making the ballot into a California Governor recall type of election?  This is just begging for Stephen Colbert to join the lawsuit.  He already flirted with running for President, he already has a SuperPAC and it's comedy gold. (That's gold, Jerry! Gold!)  How many thousand votes would he get, and he wouldn't even have to go to the trouble of getting the signatures (just like Newt, Rick and the boys).  Just an idea.

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