Virginia petitions to place independent presidential candidates, and the presidential nominees of unqualified parties, are due August 24. The Constitution Party petition will be submitted on Monday, July 16, and will contain approximately 14,000 signatures. The requirement is 10,000, with at least 400 in each U.S. House district.
When a group turns in a Virginia petition with more than the minimum number of signatures, election officials then start to check the signatures. Groups are permitted to then turn in additional signatures. Therefore, it is advantageous for a group to submit at least 10,000 signatures early in the process, because then they can learn how many more they need, if any, and avoid collecting signatures unnecessarily.
This seems a little crazy to me. If I were the CP in VA I would spend that extra month + getting at least a few more signatures and cleaning up the ones you have now to shore up any potential problems. My guess is the GOP will challenge them. It’s not that I think the CP petitioning is flawed or anything but it seems unnecessary to hand them in so early. Better safe than sorry.
General election petitions in Virginia are checked for validity, so challenges are not a regular part of the process in Virginia for general election petitions.
The Constitution Party’s behavior is very rational. If they have enough, they don’t need to waste any more energy getting more signatures. If they don’t, there is time for them to get more. Petition validity in Virginia is generally fairly good for all types of petitions.
They can add more after they have turned in on July 16th? If so then that pretty much invalidates any concerns I may have had. Thanks for the info Mr. Winger.
The preamble to the CP’s platform starts with:
“The Constitution Party gratefully acknowledges the blessing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as Creator, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe and of these United States. We hereby appeal to Him for mercy, aid, comfort, guidance and the protection of His Providence as we work to restore and preserve these United States.”
If they all “appeal” to Jesus hard enough, He’ll get them on the ballot, even if they have no petitions or signatures.
#4, all U.S. coins say “In God We Trust” but the U.S. still spends more on national defense than any other nation.
#4 This isn’t the place for that
So Richard, with turning petitions early, the Constitution Party can also get verification for the distribution requirement and so even if they have fulfilled or come close to the State-wide total the Constitution Party could concentrate on collecting their final signatures in the Congressional District(s) that they’re still deficient.
6 –
Not the place? It’s THEIR preamble, not mine.
VIRGINIA LIKES TO FIND FAULT WITH PETITIONS I WOULD TAKE ADVNTAGE OF EXTRA TIME