Sounds like there may be a chance for more than 2 Republican candidates on the Primary ballot in Virginia. (That Rick Hasen mentioned below owns the “Election Law Blog.”)
U.S. District Court in Virginia Expedites Rick Perry’s Ballot Access Lawsuit, December 29th, 2011
U.S. District Court Judge John A. Gibney of Virginia has set a hearing in Rick Perry’s presidential primary ballot access lawsuit. He will consider Perry’s request for injunctive relief on January 13. In the meantime, he has established a briefing schedule, and also has instructed attorneys for Perry to communicate with all other Republican presidential primary candidates who had filed a declaration of candidacy, to explain to them how they may intervene in the lawsuit. This shows foresight and thoughtfulness on the part of the judge. The case is Perry v Judd, 3:11-cv-856. Judge Gibney is an Obama appointee. The issue is the state’s ban on out-of-state circulators. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the news.
I’m a big believer in following the rules, but the rules shouldn’t be arbitrary and they must be published well in advance and offer equal opportunity. The Virginia GOP rules were evidently changed just last month, either to make it easier by encouraging padding the numbers to exceed 15,000 signatures submitted, or to make it harder for candidates to get in by introducing an unprecedented scrutiny for those who turned in less than 15,000 signatures. (There are even accusations that the number was pulled out of the air after Mitt Romney reached 15K.)
WingRight 
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