Perry Fails To Qualify For Virginia Ballot
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul will be on Virginia's March 6 Republican presidential primary ballot, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry has failed to qualify.
The Republican Party of Virginia said Friday that Perry's campaign fell short of the 10,000 signatures of registered voters required for a candidate's name to be on the primary ballot.
The state party said Romney and Paul obtained the needed signatures. Party officials were still verifying the signatures of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich late Friday.
Virginia State GOP spokesman Garren Shipley says the party is validating petitions the candidates submitted by the Thursday 5 p.m. deadline to the State Board of Elections. The process of validating the signatures began Friday morning.
The 10,000 registered voters must also include 400 signatures from each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts.
In an email to members of the media, Perry's campaign said:
Despite aggressive efforts collecting thousands of Virginia signatures after Governor Perry's mid-August entry into the race, we were notified this evening of apparently falling short of the 10,000 voter signatures needed to qualify.
We will closely review the facts and law to determine whether an appeal or challenge is warranted.
This is an isolated situation and does not impact Governor Perry qualifying for the ballot in every other state.
Gov Perry has the utmost respect for the strong place Virginia holds in our nation's economic and military strength and in American history He will continue to work hard to build strong support in Virginia and earn the trust of conservative-minded voters there.
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