Va. unlikely to change law to allow Gingrich write-in

Newt Gingrich wants Virginia legislators to change the law in time for him to start a write-in campaign for the March 6 presidential primary.

But that appears virtually impossible, for practical as well as political reasons.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is calling on the legislature to lower the hurdles for ballot access. Virginia's process, under which only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul qualified for the primary, "screams out for making our ballot more accessible," Cuccinelli said Monday in The Cuccinelli Compass, his online newsletter.

NBC 4, the network's Washington affiliate, caught up with the former House speaker on Christmas in Washington at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the nation's largest Roman Catholic Church. Gingrich's wife, Callista, was singing in the choir.

"We're disappointed, but it was our fault," Gingrich, a McLean resident, said of his campaign's failure to qualify for Virginia's primary ballot.

"And we hope to launch a write-in campaign. We're getting an amazing number of people who … believe Virginians ought to have the right to choose and shouldn't be restricted to two people."

When a reporter noted that state law prohibits write-in votes in primaries, Gingrich said: "There's time for them to change it. If something's wrong, they ought to fix it."

That appears unlikely this year, even if lawmakers were so inclined.

Section 24.612 of the Virginia State Code says: "The electoral board shall make printed ballots available for absentee voting not later than 45 days prior to any election."

That means absentee ballots must be mailed to voters – such as Virginians serving in the military — no later than Jan. 21.

The legislature does not convene until Jan. 11. To make the change, lawmakers would have to pass emergency legislation — a bill that goes into effect immediately upon the governor's signature, rather than on the customary enactment date of July 1.

Emergency legislation requires a supermajority. Eighty of the 100 members of the House of Delegates and 32 of the 40 state senators would have to vote to change the law.

Then, Gov. Bob McDonnell would have to sign it. McDonnell is neutral so far in the GOP nominating contest, but through his spokesman he has made his view clear — that the rules for getting on the ballot were well-known.

Additionally, ballots containing a new write-in provision would have to be printed in time to be mailed Jan. 21.

As for Gingrich's proposed change, "I'd say it's pretty tough at this point," House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said Monday in a phone interview.

"It's the law," Howell said of the statute that prohibits write-in votes in primaries.

"I like Gingrich, personally. I just don't think you're going to see a majority — or a supermajority — change the law to benefit one person."

The Republican Party of Virginia announced early Saturday that Gingrich had failed to collect the required 10,000 signatures of registered Virginia voters, at least 400 from each of the 11 congressional districts, to qualify for the primary ballot. The state GOP, which vetted submitted petitions, found that Texas Gov. Rick Perry also collected too few verifiable signatures to qualify.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman did not submit signatures to the State Board of Elections by Thursday's 5 p.m. deadline, so they were immediately disqualified.

That left Romney and Paul as the only candidates who qualified.

Cuccinelli, who also has not yet endorsed a candidate, said in his newsletter that he has spoken with a number of candidates and campaigns over approximately the last month.

"The Bachmann folks tell me that Virginia is the third hardest ballot-access state in the country. I personally don't think that's a good thing," Cuccinelli wrote.

"I would throw out for consideration that we should lower our requirements to 100 legitimate signatures per congressional district," Cuccinelli suggested.

"Let's face it, absent a serious write-in challenge from some other candidate, Virginia won't be nearly as 'fought over' as it should be in the midst of such a wide-open nomination contest. Our own laws have reduced our relevance. Sad."

In his newsletter, Cuccinelli said he hopes "our new GOP majorities will fix this problem so that neither party confronts it again. I for one would like Virginia to be heard from in our nomination process, and I'm sure you would too."