Dear Virginia Libertarian,
As many of you know, your Libertarian Party has been actively involved in
working towards relaxing our state's onerous ballot-access laws, which stifle
free speech and make it difficult to participate in the political process.
Last year, we filed a lawsuit challenging the state requirement that petition
circulators must be residents of Virginia. This week, a judge agreed with us.
Our partner in the lawsuit, the ACLU of Virginia, released a statement about
the decision today, and included links to the plaintiff's briefs as well as the
judge's decision. I have included their release, below.
If you would like to help us continue this track record of success, please take
a few moments and make a contribution at:
http://Contribute.LPVA.com
We have another lawsuit we hope to file shortly as well, also dealing with
ballot access issues. This one will seek to overturn HB 1151, which
invalidated thousands of signatures on LP presidential nominating petitions due
to the Virginia legislature's failure to reapportion its congressional
districts until March, 2012.
That lawsuit has unfortunately been delayed because our lawyer, Gary Sinawski,
has been unable to secure local counsel in Virginia, and local counsel is
required when the principal attorney is not licensed to practice in the state.
If you are familiar with any attorneys who would be willing to act as our local
counsel, please let us know by sending a message to [email protected] or click
<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Local_Counsel>
Since we may not be able to find an attorney willing to serve as local counsel
pro bono or at least at a substantial discount, your contribution would help
immensely if we end up having to hire an attorney at normal rates. The
deadline for filing the suit is coming up very fast -- so please go to:
http://Contribute.LPVA.com
... and make the most generous donation you can afford.
Thank you for your consideration. And please remember to head over to:
http://Contribute.LPVA.com
... as soon as you can.
With best wishes, I am,
Sincerely,
Marc Montoni, Secretary
Libertarian Party of Virginia
804-592-6066 (h) or 703-715-6230 (LPVA Voicemail)
http://www.LPVA.com
<[email protected]>
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Peaceful Commerce With All Nations * Noninterventionism * Repeal Prohibition *
End Government Intrusion In The Bedroom * Repeal All Gun Laws * Taxpayer
Bailout: Repeal The Income Tax * Sound, Free-market Money& Abolish The Fed *
End Corporate& Individual Welfare * Abolish The IRS * Privatize Transportation
Infrastructure * Free-market Emergency Services * Minimally-regulated Migration
* Transfer Government Schools To The Private Sector * Eliminate Regulation *
VOTE LIBERTARIAN * 800-ELECT-US or http://www.LP.org
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Media release from the ACLU of Virginia
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Court Says Residency Restriction on Petition Circulators for Third-Party
Presidential Candidates is Unconstitutional
Virginia law violates free speech and association, court says in ACLU case
Richmond, VA AA federal district court judge yesterday struck down a Virginia
law imposing a state residency requirement on persons who petition for
third-party presidential candidates to appear on the general election ballot.
The court issued its ruling, without recourse to a trial, stating that the
statute violates the First Amendment.
"We are very pleased with the court's decision," said ACLU of Virginia Legal
Director Rebecca K. Glenberg. "This ruling affirms that people from out of
state may greatly contribute to the political discourse in Virginia. The judge
recognized that the state's prohibition on non-residents petitioning in
Virginia reduces the total amount of political speech in the state, and voters
are the worse off for it.
"Petitioning on behalf of a presidential candidate is an exercise of political
speech protected by the First Amendment, added Glenberg. "We argued that the
state had no basis for restricting this right to people who live in Virginia
and we're pleased that the court agreed."
The ACLU represents the Libertarian Party of Virginia and Darryl Bonner, a
non-Virginia resident who often circulates petitions on behalf of Libertarian
Party candidates in other states.
Virginia Code Section 24.2-543 requires 'non-party' presidential candidates who
wish to be listed on a general election ballot to gather at least 400
signatures from each congressional district and a total of 10,000 from the
entire state. Individuals are considered to be non-party candidates if they
or the organization they represent received less than 10 percent of the total
vote cast in either of the two preceding statewide elections. The signatures
must be witnessed by state residents.
In his opinion granting summary judgment to the plaintiffs, Judge John A.
Gibney, Jr. wrote: "The First Amendment places a premium on political speech,
particularly speech about political change. . . . By imposing a state residency
requirement on petition circulators, the Board [of Elections] deprives
non-residents of a means to engage in core political speech and reduces the
quantity of such speech available to its residents." The court also ordered
the Board of Elections to cease enforcement of the residency requirement.
The defendants in the case, members of the Virginia State Board of Elections,
also filed a motion for summary judgment, asking the court to dismiss the case.
That motion was denied.
A similar issue arose earlier this year when Republican presidential hopeful
Rick Perry challenged a related Virginia law imposing state residency
requirements on individuals who circulate petitions for presidential primary
candidates. In that case, a federal judge said that Perry had filed his
lawsuit too late to expect a court remedy, but also opined that the residency
restrictions were likely unconstitutional.
"Yesterday's opinion does not specifically deal with the residency requirement
for candidates seeking a place on the presidential primary ballot, as in the
Rick Perry case, but the same principles apply," said Glenberg. "We hope that
as a result of this decision, the State Board of Elections will cease
enforcement of that provision as well."
A copy of the plaintiffs' brief in support of their motion for summary
judgment, filed on June 21, may be found online at
<http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=finjVIRXcebtEjTT9spnMhm3aUD0ASkU>https://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/20120621LibertarianPartySummaryJudgment.pdf
Judge Gibney's opinion may be found at
<http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=J1Uk5VOIHwexJMscmHmObBm3aUD0ASkU>https://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/20120730LibertarianPartyCaseDistrictCourtSJOpinion.pdf.
Contact: Rebecca K. Glenberg, Legal Director, 804-644-8022
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