Third Parties Seek to Waive Petition Requirements
for Ballot Access in Virginia

 Filings: 06/05, 06/08, 06/16, 06/18, 07/07, 07/08.  Opinion: 07/16.
Libertarian Party of Virginia
Jorgensen for President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2020

Virginia judge rules to reduce petition signature requirement for alternative presidential candidates 

Libertarian presidential candidate calls ruling important step for millions of voters

RICHMOND, Va.—  U.S. District Court Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled on Wednesday to ease the signature requirement for "third-party" presidential candidates, in light of the difficulty of petitioning presented by the COVID-19 pandemic along with other constraints imposed by local and state governments.

Judge Gibney granted a 50-percent reduction in the signature requirement. Parties must now collect 2500, rather than 5000, signatures by August 21 in order to have their presidential candidate placed on the Nov. 3 ballot in Virginia.

Virginia’s Phase 3 guidelines for social distancing strongly encourage people to "maintain six feet of physical distance when outside of home."

"While Libertarians are grateful for the reduction, we continue to feel it is unreasonable to insist on in-person signature requirements during a pandemic," said Libertarian Party (LP) of Virginia Chair Nick Dunbar. "We will continue to work with the Virginia Board of Elections and the State Assembly to develop a contactless ballot-qualification method."

Dunbar noted that the 50-percent reduction granted by Judge Gibney is less generous than was the 65-percent reduction granted to a Republican U.S. Senate candidate earlier this year.
Despite the difficulty, Dunbar expects Libertarians to meet the new requirement and place Dr. Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian candidate for president, on the ballot.

"This is an important step toward ensuring that more than five million voters in Virginia can vote their conscience this fall," said Dr. Jorgensen, who advocates a far smaller government; much lower taxes; competitive, low-cost health care; and an end to U.S. involvement in foreign wars.
On Monday, Dunbar presented testimony, along with representatives for the Constitution and Green Parties, regarding the obstacles to petitioning they faced this season and the resultant projections of signatures they expect to collect, based on past petitioning efforts.

Almost two dozen alternative-party voters, practicing social distancing and wearing masks, watched the testimony as Judge Gibney considered pro and con arguments. He cited First Amendment rights and other considerations in support of lessening the requirement for this election cycle.

###
About Jorgensen for President 2020:  Dr. Jo Jorgensen is the 2020 Libertarian Party presidential nominee, and was the party's 1996 vice-presidential nominee. She is a businesswoman, entrepreneur, and senior lecturer at Clemson University. She holds an MBA and a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Learn more about Jorgensen for President at Jo20.com.
About the Libertarian Party: The Libertarian Party was founded in 1972 and today is the third largest political party in the United States. Millions of Americans have voted for Libertarian Party candidates in elections throughout the country. Learn more about the Libertarian Party of Virginia at LPVirginia.org.
Constitution Party of Virginia
July 3, 2020

Settlement Conference Fails to Reach Agreement

The Constitution Party of Virginia attended a settlement conference Tuesday June 30th. The party is seeking to get signature requirements waived so that we can put our presidential candidate on the November ballot without exposing signature collectors or the public to the risk of transmitting Covid-19. The State Board of Elections would not lift the signature requirement, and a July 13th trial is scheduled for 9:00am at the Federal Courthouse, 701 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia.
_____________
ed. note: Although the national Constitution Party nominated Don Blankenship at its convention, there was a schism in the Constitution Party of Virginia, and their presidential candidate is not Blankenship, but Samm Tittle.

Constitution Party of Virginia
June 27, 2020

Settlement Conference Scheduled for June 30th

On June 19th, a judicial hearing was held to allow the waiver of the signature requirements to gain access for alternative political parties and independent candidates.  The State of Virginia offered to reduce the signature requirements by 20% to 4,000 with a minimum 160 signatures from each of the 11 congressional districts, for presidential candidates.  This was not agreed to by complainants and a court date was set for July 13th.  Since then, a settlement conference has been set for June 30th to try and get an agreement ahead of the court date.  The attached press release was issued prior to the scheduling of the settlement conference.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 25th, 2020

Contact:
John B. Bloom, Chairman Constitution Party of Virginia, (CPV) CPofvirginia@gmail.com Tina Rockett, Female Co-Chair of the Green Party of Virginia (GPV), roktt@icloud.com
Ryan Wesdock, Male Co-Chair of the Green Party of Virginia (GPV), ryan.wesdock@gmail.com
Carey Campbell, Chairman Independent Green Party of Virginia (IGPV), careychetcampbell@gmail.com
D. Nick Dunbar, Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Virgini (LPV)a, nick.dunbar@lp.org
Mitchell Bupp, Independent Candidate for Congress in Virginia’s 5th CD, mitchbupp@gmail.com

SUBJECT: ALL ALTERNATIVE POLITICAL PARTIES AND INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES IN VIRGINIA ARE UNITED AGAINST THE DUOPOLY OF THE REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT PARTIES AND TAKING THE STATE OF VIRGINIA TO COURT

Last Friday, on Juneteenth, at a Judicial Hearing to allow the waiver of the signature requirements to gain ballot access for Alternative Political Parties (CPV, GPV, IGPV and LPV) and Independent Candidates. The State offered to reduce the signature requirements by 65% for members of CONGRESS and extend the deadline to collect signatures to July 7th and to reduce the number of signatures required by 20% to 4,000 signatures statewide and 160 signatures in each of the 11 Congressional Districts.

In the midst of a Global Pandemic in which Governor Northam issued a “Stay At Home” Order making it essentially ILLEGAL to collect signatures on a Nominating Petition, and only lifting restrictions that do not include obtaining signatures on Nominating Petitions. The State’s PUBLIC POLICY is “SAFER AT HOME”, however this offer runs counter to that policy.

Mr. John Bloom, the Chairman of the Constitution Party of Virginia would not urge anyone to risk their health and that of the public’s to collect signatures. “We do not want to be responsible for spreading the Coronavirus throughout Virginia, as that is what would happen with four political parties collecting signatures to get their statewide candidates on the ballot as well as risking the health of volunteers. I’d also like to thank Mr. Mitchell Bupp who found a lawyer willing to take on our mutual fight for LIBERTY and Ballot Access in Virginia.”

If we are ordered by the court to continue to collect signatures, we would request the State tell us how to accomplish that feat without risk of spreading the Coronavirus and the State of Virginia would be responsible for any adverse consequences. In order for the Courts to be consistent with the “Safer at Home” Policy, all signature requirements should be waived for ballot access.

The State wrongfully argued that all candidates need to show they have “support”, however the Nominating Petition examples provided by the State Board of Elections has this disclaimer for the signers of the petition: “Signer:Your signature on this petition must be your own and does not signify an intent to vote for the candidate. You may sign petitions for more than one candidate.“ Signing a Nominating Petition does not signify any support.

“We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately”, Dr. Benjamin Franklin

The hearing details: 9:00 a.m., Friday, July 13th, at the Richmond Courthouse: Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Federal Courthouse, 701 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA. with the same Judge John A. Gibney, a President Barrack Obama appointee, who presided over the hearing that resulted in this bogus State Offer. Then the State just offered allowing us to email people petitions and having them sign and we “witness” using a Video Conferencing System to “witness” signatures with the same signature requirements, a LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE. The ONLY acceptable outcome to protect public safety and a RETURN to LIBERTY in Virginia is to waive signature requirements.

###
Green Party of Virginia
June 17, 2020

GPVA Encourages Members to Attend Court Hearing on Ballot Access Lawsuit; Responds to Defendants' Reply to Suit

The Green Party of Virginia (GPVA) encourages its members to attend the upcoming hearing in our lawsuit to waive ballot access requirements due to the pandemic and subsequent public health measures. The hearing is at 9:00 a.m., Friday, June 19, at the Richmond Courthouse: Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Federal Courthouse, 701 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 2321.

The GPVA and other plaintiffs have received a reply from the defendants that effectively pretends that the pandemic did not happen. It alleges plaintiffs did nothing to address this problem earlier, and that we, rather than the state government or the virus, are responsible for not being able to receive the required number of signatures. This allegation denies the fact that we publicly addressed a petition to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the State Board of Elections for relief in March - a petition to which we received no substantive reply. It further denies our efforts over multiple months to receive signatures on that petition, to distribute an informal, electronic petition, and to request the acknowledgement of potential signature-gatherers that they would have gathered signatures if not for the pandemic. The defendant's argument that some candidates succeeded in filing petitions by the deadline (and therefore everybody should) is an implicit demand that the plaintiffs meet a much more burdensome requirement for ballot access than the law requires, by foreshortening the time allowed for petitioning by months, in the case of the August deadline by more than four months. The defendant's statement that we can meet our signature requirement for presidential candidates, with in-person petitioning, by Aug 21 when such petitioning has been prevented by the states' own guidelines, and will be for the foreseeable future, is not only contrary to fact but utterly neglectful of the imminent danger to the petitioners and to the public were we to make the attempt. The defendants further claim that signature requirements have not been reduced to zero elsewhere is patently false in light of the recent Northern District Federal Court ruling in favor of the Illinois' Libertarian and Green Parties more than a month ago.The defendants response is flawed, and if granted would result in genuine harm to all third party and independent candidates in Virginia, as well a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Virginia voters.

GPVA Co-Chair Ryan Wesdock said, "This lawsuit is incredibly important to protect the right of all Virginian voters to have their voice represented at the ballot box. If the defendants win, they will be denying real choice to voters in November."
Green Party of Virginia
June 10, 2020

GPVA FIles Lawsuit Seeking Waiver of Signature Requirement of Ballot Access

The Green Party of Virginia joined this week with additional plaintiffs in the Libertarian Party of Virginia and Independent Green Party to formally file an amended legal complaint and motion for a complete waiver of signature requirements for ballot access for federal offices. Plaintiffs named in the lawsuit include candidates for president and vice president, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Green Party of Virginia has successfully petitioned for ballot access in previous presidential election cycles, but under the restrictions of this pandemic, Green candidates like the other plaintiffs have been prevented from collecting signatures because doing so would violate social distancing and endanger the health of both the petitioners and the general public. Keeping the ballot petitioning requirements in place will deny independents and third Parties a place on the ballot for these offices in the November election, which would be a violation of citizens' fundamental political right to vote for the candidates representative of their choice.

Speaking on the necessity of the lawsuit, GPVA co-chair Ryan Wesdock said, "The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent executive orders from the Governor have made it impossible to safely and legally acquire the needed number of signatures for ballot access. Only a complete and total waiver of signature requirements will be adequate to ensure that every Virginian has a truly democratic vote this November."
Constitution Party of Virginia
June 8, 2020

Alternative Political Parties in Virginia Unite to Bring Choice to Virginia Voters

The Libertarian Party and the Independent Green Party have been added to the Complaint to gain ballot access in Virginia.  Now all alternative political parties have been added to the lawsuit.  Plaintiffs now include Libertarian Nominee Dr. Jo Jorgensen and Independent Sheila "SAMM" Tittle and a plaintiff in all Congressional Races, including the US Senate.

Green Party of Virginia
May 16, 2020

Green Party of Virginia ballot access update

FALLS CHURCH, Va – The Green Party of Virginia (GPVA), along with the Constitution Party and independent candidates, joined a lawsuit this week asking for a waiver of signature requirements for ballot access in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Northam's pursuant emergency stay-at-home order for the state. The GPVA has successfully met the ballot signature requirements for every candidate it has run, including presidential candidates in every presidential election, for at least the previous 12 years.

The Green Party of Virginia proactively petitioned the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Board of Elections for relief from the ballot petition signature requirements at the end of March 2020 prior to filing, but received no reply. This lawsuit aims to protect democratic choice for Virginia’s voters at the ballot box this November.
Best,
Tina Rockett and Ryan Wesdock
Co-Chairs, Green Party of Virginia

Frank Green. "Third-party candidates file suit over Virginia signature requirements."  Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 18, 2020.
Green Party of Virginia
March 26, 2020

Appeal for Waiver of Ballot Access Petitioning Requirement

Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia
Eileen Filler-Corn, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
Justin Fairfax, President of the Senate of Virginia
Robert H. Brink, Chairman of the Virginia Board of Elections

RE: Virginia Ballot Access Petitioning Requirements and COVID-19

The Green Party of Virginia (GPVA) hereby makes a formal request and petition to Virginia
Governor Ralph Northam, the General Assembly, and the Board of Elections to waive the petition of qualified voters requirement for ballot access in light of the Governor's declaration of a state of
emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Collecting ballot petition signatures requires close physical contact on the part of both voters and
petitioners. We are required under state law to obtain at least 5,000 signatures, though experience with having signatures disqualified leads us to aim for double this number. Gathering this many signatures requires hundreds of thousands of contacts, which is neither possible nor responsible given the need for social distancing. Continuing to require these signatures would put petitioners and the general public at greater risk of the coronavirus for many months. It would also be an injustice for third parties who would otherwise obtain ballot access to be excluded simply because ensuring public health and safety also ensures that the arbitrary requirements for obtaining ballot access in Virginia are impossible to satisfy.

In view of successful petitioning by the GPVA in all recent election cycles our party would likely
achieve ballot access once again this year if not for the pandemic. We have already made serious efforts to collect petition signatures prior to the state of emergency - efforts which we have halted out of concern for the public health. Failing to waive this requirement would infringe the right of our party to participate in the upcoming election. The state of emergency, restrictions on gatherings, and other limitations designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus should not prevent voters from having a democratic choice at the ballot box this November.

Whereas a state of emergency has been declared by Governor Ralph Northam, we implore the state to alleviate the hardship of petitioning under these extenuating circumstances presented by a pandemic illness and the highly likely resultant loss of ballot access through no fault of our own.

Yours,
Tina Rockett, GPVA Co-Chair
B. Sidney Smith, GPVA General Secretary
Ryan Wesdock, GPVA Press Secretary