Four GOP candidates fail to make Virginia primary ballot, judge rules

By Bill Mears, CNN
updated 5:13 PM EST, Fri January 13, 2012

The names of Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich will not appear on the Virginia primary ballot.

(CNN) -- A federal judge on Friday ruled against four Republican presidential candidates seeking a spot on Virginia's March 6 primary ballot, saying they waited too long to file their claims.

Left off the ballot are Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former U.S Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.

The four candidates had challenged the state's residency requirements for those seeking to circulate ballot petitions, but Judge John Gibney ruled against the challenge.

The four candidates "knew the rules in Virginia many months ago," the judge wrote in his ruling. "In essence, they played the game, lost, and then complained that the rules were unfair."

Two other candidates did qualify for the GOP primary: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

Virginia holds its Republican primary on March 6, Super Tuesday. At stake in the primary are Virginia's 49 delegates.

Virginia state law specifically prohibits voters from writing in candidates not on the ballot in primary elections.

Huntsman and Santorum did not file petitions with the Virginia State Board of Elections that would have allowed them a place in the state's primary. Gingrich and Perry filed petitions that were later rejected by the Republican Party of Virginia for not meeting requirements.

The four candidates sued the state's board of elections over laws they claimed were "unconstitutional."

Virginia requires candidates to obtain 10,000 signatures from registered voters in the state, with at least 400 signatures coming from each of the state's 11 congressional districts.

Four GOP candidates fail to make Virginia primary ballot, judge rules - CNN.com