Judge Rules Against Rick Perry’s Virginia Ballot Law Suit … Perry, Gingrich, Santorum & Huntsman Will Not Appear on VA Ballot for March 6th Primary

NO SOUP FOR YOU …

A Virginia judge rules against Rick Perry’s legal challenge to the Virginia ballot rules. If the primaries make it to March 6 and the Virginia primaries, Perry, Gingrich, Santorum and Huntsman will not be on the primary ballot. so says  U.S. district judge John Gibney. Basically the judge states, the candidates knew the rules in advance, they had an opportunity to follow the rules and failed to do so. Since they did not get the required 10,000 signatures from registered voters, including at least 400 signatures from each of the state’s congressional districts, they failed to meet the standard to be on the ballot.

The courts opinion can be read HERE.

“They knew the rules in Virginia many months ago; the limitations on circulators affected them as soon as they began to circulate petitions,” he writes. “The plaintiffs could have challenged the Virginia law at that time. Instead, they waited until after the time to gather petitions had ended and they had lost the political battle to be on the ballot; then, on the eve of the printing of absentee ballots, they decided to challenge Virginia’s laws. In essence, they played the game, lost, and then complained that the rules were unfair.”

The decision means Perry, as well as Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman, will not appear on the ballot in the state’s March 6 primary.

Much more on the decision at Outside the Beltway.

The decision makes perfect sense. Everyone knew the standard to be on the ballot, if you failed to meet that standard why should you be rewarded for not following the rules.  The only names that will appear on the Virginia GOP primary ballot will be Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. That should be an interesting situation in its own right.