The Virginia Board of Elections has said that the petition to place Constitution Party presidential nominee Virgil Goode on the ballot has enough valid signatures. The petition has more than twice as many signatures as are required.
However, the Virginia Republican Party has looked at the petition and asserts that it should be rejected. One basis for the Republican Party’s statement is that Virgil Goode himself got 3 signatures on one particular day on his own Virginia petition, yet the party claims it has proof he was physically in Alabama that same day. Goode was in Alabama part of that day, but he got home to Virginia and collected a few signatures that evening.
Another basis for the Republican Party’s claim is that one circulator collected approximately 250 signatures in one day. The Republican Party claims this is impossible. Actually, there are professional petition circulators who have collected as many as 600 or 700 signatures in one day. Some petitioners are very good, and when they are in a high-traffic location, they can collect more than 500 in a single day.
Republicans are scared , its sour grapes
The GOP already scared the CP off the PA ballot. I guess they want to see if they can bully them off VA as well.
Shorter GOP: Virginia is not a challenge state, but we’re going to challenge anyway.
There are very few rightwing third parties running candidates for president this year, so the more states the republicans can knock the CP off the ballot the better the chances get for the republican party in the swing states.
My record in collecting signatures was in College. In one day I collected 455 signature on my college campus
for Ronald Reagan in his race for Governor. That was from 6:45 a.m. until 10:20 p.m.
Virgil Goode is a good man. He does not need the GOP playing games.
The GOP has its own problems with Mr. Stericycle and his
dead aborted baby farming.
Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, former Chairman of the AIP.
[Tomorrow the new chairman of the American Independent
Party of California takes office. His name is Dr. Wiley
Drake, Sr. of Buena Park, CA.]
It’s interesting that the Republicans are working so hard this year to harm candidates they see as competitors.
Are the Democrats doing much of the same? (presumably with regard to Jill Stein)
@ Mark the AIP Screwed Goode so they are as bad as the GOP.
#5, there is still time for the California American Independent Party to amend its certification for president and vice-president. California can’t start printing its ballots until after the Democrats have nominated for President and Vice-President.
@6
There hasn’t been much info about the Democrats trying to stymie Jill Stein’s ballot access efforts, or at least not much posted on BAN; this years it’s pretty much been the Republicans attacking Gary Johnson and Virgil Goode. So far the only “inter-left” ballot access fight this year that I have heard of was a Green challenging the SP-USA and Justice Party petitions (and the Constitution Party petition, it should be noted) in Illinois.
@9, they also challenged the Together Enhancing America party.
Mark, that’s pretty good, but I think I have you beat on a per hour basis. Collected 350 one Saturday afternoon at an arts and crafts fair at the local park which was fenced in and had only one entrance gate for paid admission. I worked the line from noon til about 6pm with multiple boards with petitions held on by rubber bands front and back. Averaged almost one per minute – about as fast as I could talk.
I don’t think Democratic Party officials have tried to block any presidential candidates, via challenges, from the general election ballot since 2004. However, most Democrats in the North Carolina State Senate this year voted against ballot access reform (but so did most Republican Senators).
@12 The minority leader in the NC Senate ( Democrat) is very hostile towards ballot access reform. His own son is working to defeat him this year and is backing the republican. I am not sure the republicans position but by removing the minority leader that will be one lest obstacle to ballot access reform in NC.
What about the Eggs Over Easy Party? Who is behind keeping them off the ballot?
After watching Republicans at the convention cheat Maine out of delegates, drive Virginia delegates around for 1 1/2 hours to keep them from speaking/voting, change the nominating rules to exclude grassroots candidates, strong-arming the COnstitution Party off the ballot in PA, and now trying to get Goode off the ballot in VA, I WILL NEVER VOTE REPUBLICAN AGAIN!
Well, I’ve looked at the Republican Party and I assert that it should be rejected.
The core of the GOP is rotten and it cannot be reformed. It is about time constitutionalists join a party dedicated to restoring the federal government to its constitutional boundaries. VOTE GOODE/CLYMER
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