State GOP moves to scrap loyalty oath in primary

The state GOP has authorized the Virginia State Board of Elections to scrap a much-criticized loyalty oath from the March 6 presidential primary ballot.

The party's State Central Committee is scheduled to take up the issue Saturday in Richmond. The state party polled committee members sooner because the elections board faces a Friday deadline to mail out absentee ballots 45 days ahead of the primary, as state law requires.

"We informally polled the GOP State Central Committee over the past week and there was an overwhelming and near unanimous feeling that we should rescind the loyalty oath," Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Pat Mullins wrote on his Facebook page.

Mullins said the executive committee's vote to rescind the oath was unanimous and that it will be formally approved Saturday.

Sparring over the loyalty oath has worsened the state GOP's primary woes. Only two candidates — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul — qualified for what could have been a marquee Super Tuesday primary in a crucial swing state that Republicans hope to win back from President Barack Obama in November.

It marks the second consecutive presidential election in which the state GOP's governing body has voted to require a loyalty pledge, then scrapped it before the primary.

Virginians do not register by party, which means any registered voter can vote in a state primary. In December, the party's governing body agreed to require anyone who votes in the March 6 primary to pledge to support the party's nominee in November.

The State Board of Elections voted Dec. 28 to approve three forms its staff developed to implement the loyalty oath — a notice to inform absentee voters of the pledge, a sign to hang at polling places and the pledge form itself.

The pledge form was to 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.' "

The pledge would have required the voter to sign and to print his name beneath a line that said: "I, the undersigned, pledge that I intend to support the nominee of the Republican Party for president." The pledge is unenforceable in the general election, but no one who refused to sign it would be allowed to vote in the primary.

Prominent Republicans bristled at the proposed oath. Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, now a U.S. Senate candidate, has said that the pledge would prevent Newt Gingrich — a McLean resident — from voting in the primary. In Iowa, Gingrich said he would not vote for Paul in the general election.

Gov. Bob McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Mullins had urged the central committee to reconsider requiring the loyalty oath, arguing that it might turn off independent voters and tea party adherents whose votes could be vital to the party's chances in November.

The ACLU of Virginia had called the oath constitutionally flawed and indicated the group was prepared to sue on behalf of affected voters if the requirement remained.

McDonnell argued in a Jan. 5 statement that "the effect of the oath could be one of diminishing participation in the primary, at a time when our party must be expanding its base and membership as we head into the pivotal 2012 general elections this fall."

On his Facebook page, Mullins said it is important for the party to be welcoming to potential newcomers, such as independents and tea party activists.

"This year is going to be one of the biggest recruitment years of new people into the Republican Party we've had since Ronald Reagan ran for president in 1976 and 1980 and 1984," Mullins said, adding that young people who voted for Obama in 2008 "will be flocking this year to our cause" because of high unemployment.

In Virginia's 2000 GOP presidential primary, won by then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, voters were required to sign a different pledge: "I, the undersigned, state that I do not intend to participate in the nomination process of any other party than the Republican Party."

In November 2007, the State Central Committee voted to rescind its demand for a loyalty pledge in Virginia's February 2008 Republican presidential primary, won by Arizona Sen. John McCain. GOP officials considered it unnecessary because Democrats would be inclined to vote in the Democratic primary held the same day.

Virginia will not hold a Democratic primary in March because Obama is the party's only candidate who qualified.