Republican presidential contenders Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman on Wednesday joined Rick Perry’s lawsuit challenging Virginia’s ballot restrictions.
Noticeably absent from the lawsuit is Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who announced she was suspending her campaign after Tuesday night’s poor showing in the Iowa caucuses. Bachmann’s camp originally indicated they would sign on as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Like Perry, Gingrich, Santorum and Huntsman assert that Virginia’s threshold for making the ballot — 10,000 signatures from registered voters — is unduly burdensome and unconstitutional. The four are asking a federal judge to prevent the State Board of Elections from sending out ballots that just include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul, the only two to qualify for the March 6 primary.
State law requires the Board of Elections to mail absentee ballots by Jan. 21, 45 days before the state’s March 6 primary, and officials have already began producing them.
On Tuesday, state Republican Party Chairman Pat Mullins, a defendant in the lawsuit, asked the court to dismiss the case.
In a motion filed last week, Perry admitted his campaign collected only about 6,000 signatures, although he signed an affidavit claiming he had nearly 12,000. Gingrich handed in more than 11,000 signatures but he said 1,500 of those collected by a company hired by Gingrich’s campaign were fraudulent.
Santorum, Huntsman and Bachmann didn’t bother handing in any petitions at all.
“If you want to be president of the United States, you ought to be able to collect 10,000 signatures in Virginia,” Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday.
