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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Va. GOP to require loyalty oath in presidential primary

    Va. GOP to require loyalty oath in presidential primary


    By: Andrew Cain | Richmond Times-Dispatch
    Published: December 28, 2011
    Updated: December 28, 2011 - 3:11 PM

    RICHMOND, Va. -- At the request of the Virginia Republican Party, the State Board of Elections voted 3-0 today to close the March 6 presidential primary and require a loyalty oath for participation.
    That means anyone who wants to vote must sign a form at the polling place pledging to support the eventual Republican nominee for president. Anyone who refuses to sign the pledge will be barred from voting.
    During a brief meeting at the state Capitol, the board also held a drawing that determined Texas Rep. Ron Paul will appear first on the ballot for the primary, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the only other candidate who qualified for the ballot.
    This afternoon, Paul Goldman, former chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, and Pat McSweeney, a former chairman of the state Republican Party, held a news conference at the state Capitol. They urged legislators to pass emergency legislation establishing a standard -- through polling data, for instance -- that would get additional Republican candidates on the ballot March 6.
    Legislators say changes to Virginia’s election laws are unlikely in time for the primary. State law requires that absentee ballots be mailed by Jan. 21 – 45 days ahead of the election. The legislature does not convene until Jan. 11.
    As for the loyalty pledge, notices at each polling place and the pledge itself will advise voters that “Section 24.2-545 of the Code of Virginia allows the political party holding a primary to determine requirements for voting in the primary, including ‘the signing of a pledge by the voter of his intention to support the party’s candidate when offering to vote in the primary.’ ”
    Virginians do not register to vote by party. That means any registered voter can cast a ballot in a presidential primary. State Republicans previously have requested a loyalty pledge – most recently in the 2000 presidential primary – in order to prevent mischief-makers from seeking to boost the easiest candidate to beat.
    It amounts to an unenforceable honor pledge because no one can tell for whom a voter casts a ballot in the general election.
    Virginia did not hold a GOP presidential primary in 2004, because President George W. Bush was seeking re-election. In November 2007 the GOP State Central Committee voted to rescind their demand for a loyalty pledge in the 2008 presidential primary. They deemed it unnecessary because Democrats would be inclined to vote in their primary on the same day that featured Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
    This year there will be no state Democratic primary because Obama is the only candidate who submitted signatures to qualify.
    During the drawing for ballot spots, Kimberly Bowers, vice chairwoman of the elections board, picked one of two identical film canisters from a crystal bowl. It contained Paul’s name. Board Secretary Donald Palmer then picked the second canister, which contained Romney’s name.
    The three members of the board did not comment specifically on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's federal lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Richmond, challenging his exclusion from Virginia's primary ballot.
    But following the meeting Chairman Charles E. Judd and Palmer raised logistical concerns. They said an injunction requiring the addition of Perry’s name to the ballot would pose difficulties given the Jan. 21 deadline to mail absentee ballots 45 days ahead of the primary.
    “There’s so much that has to be done I don’t know physically how we’d be able to do it, and that’s my concern,” Judd said.
    Palmer agreed.
    “What we did today (in determining the ballot order) was the whistle for the train to leave the station,” he said. “Right now election officials are preparing and programming the ballots for the overseas and military voters.
    “Time is of the essence if there is going to be any additional names. That deadline is the 21st of January, but this process takes two to three weeks of getting the ballots tested, prepared, printed, shipped back to the election officials and sent out to the overseas military.”
    Perry filed suit Tuesday against the three members of the elections board and Pat Mullins, chairman of the state Republican Party, seeking placement on the primary ballot.
    His suit challenges a provision of state law that says campaign workers who collect voters’ signatures for ballot access must be eligible to vote in Virginia. The rule matters to Perry because even valid signatures for ballot access do not count if the person who circulated the petitions is not eligible to vote in the state.
    Mullins said in a statement issued today: "As chairman, my responsibility is to certify candidates who meet the ballot access requirements set forth in Virginia statutes. I complied with Virginia law by certifying the candidates who met the statutory requirements by 5 p.m. yesterday. At this point it is necessary to see what the court says on this matter and so neither I nor the party will be issuing any further statements until the judge issues a ruling."
    According to the court file in U.S. District Court, summonses were issued today to Judd, Palmer, Bowers and Mullins and they have 21 days to respond.
    Bowers said this morning that she had not yet been served and declined comment on the suit.
    On Saturday Mullins certified to the elections board that Romney and Paul were the only two candidates who had amassed the required 10,000 signatures of registered voters in order to qualify for the ballot.
    On Friday evening and early Saturday, volunteers who assessed candidates' submitted signatures at state GOP headquarters determined that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Perry did not collect enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

    http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/v...ot-ar-1572784/
    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 12-28-2011 at 02:35 PM.
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    A bit..?..: pretentious (prɪˈtɛnʃəs)
    — adj
    1. making claim to distinction or importance, esp undeservedly
    2. having or creating a deceptive outer appearance of great worth; ostentatious
    pre'tentiously
    — adv
    pre'tentiousness
    — n
    ]
    Last edited by airdale; 12-28-2011 at 02:41 PM.

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    " State Republicans previously have requested a loyalty pledge – most recently in the 2000 presidential primary – in order to prevent mischief-makers from seeking to boost the easiest candidate to beat.
    It amounts to an unenforceable honor pledge because no one can tell for whom a voter casts a ballot in the general election."




    This is required by both partys in local primarys in Virginia.

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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    RELATED

    Candidates struggle to get names on Virginia ballot

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