On August 26, the Virginia Republican Party filed a lawsuit in state court to remove Terry McAuliffe, Democratic gubernatorial nominee, from the November 2021 ballot. The suit says McAuliffe didn’t sign his declaration of candidacy in March when he filed for the primary. See this story. Thanks to Tim Phares for the link. UPDATE: here is the Complaint in Republican Party of Virginia v Piper, Circuit Court of Richmond City.
Oh wow, this would be HUGE if he gets removed from the ballot. If this happens, expect votes to go way up for the Liberation Party candidate.
Libertarian Party of Virginia, where are you?
I do not see how this can go anywhere. If there was an error then the suit should have been filed before the primary. Once the primary happens it is to late. The remedy they are seeking is not applicable to the general election.
This is funny. Establishment candidates must follow the rules too. Apparently, they missed the boat on this one. Throw him off the ballot and set an example. He is a professional candidate and should have known better.
MS – aka ***election cures all***.
olde *substantial compliance with the law* ??
applies in olde VA — going back to mere 1607 colony start ???
They did throw Nick Freitas off the ballot in the 30th District race for the House of Delegates due to a paperwork error, so there is precedent to remove McAwful, but I don’t think it will happen. This is a major longshot, but I guess it’s better than no shot at all.
If I understand correctly, even if McAuliffe were disqualified, the Virginia Democratic Party would be able to substitute a different candidate.
Under the El-Amin v Virginia State Board of Elections precedent, the Democratic Party could substitute with McAuliffe himself. That decision let an independent candidate who was thrown off the ballot for not filing a campaign finance form, replace himself with himself.
That’s insane.