As was discussed the other day, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich turned in the required 10,000 plus names to qualify for their names to be added to the Virginia GOP primary ballot, but because they turned in less than 15,000 names, the Virginia GOP put those names through a verification process and disqualified both Perry and Gingrich.
(Both turned in over 11,000 signatures)
Romney and Paul were the only two the Virginia GOP certified to be listed on the March 2012 primary ballot.
Yet, Romney, by virtue of how many names (over 15,000) was allowed to bypass the verification process.
It was recently reported that the verification process had not been utilized in previous elections and was determined to be used for the 2012 elections, in November of 2011.
After the news hit that the Virginia GOP did not certify Gingrich and Romney, it was suggested that this issue might be seen in court.
Which brings us to today's news from MSNBC's First Read, who reports Rick Perry has filed a lawsuit against Virginia to gain access to the GOP primary ballot.
While some experts say the lawsuit faces long shot odds, over at Hot Air it is pointed out that certain federal appellate court rulings have sided with Perry's argument about requirements for petition circulators, to be unconstitutional.
Here’s one case, from the Tenth Circuit, finding state residency requirements for petition circulators unconstitutional; two other federal appellate courts have ruled similarly. The question is whether the Fourth Circuit, which covers Virginia, will rule the same way.
The Perry complaint can be found here.(PDF)
Why didn't Perry approach Gingrich about teaming up for this lawsuit since both candidates submitted over 11,000 names, both were disqualified by the verification process, and both subject to Virginia's onerous rules?
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