Republican presidential hopeful and former House speaker Newt Gingrich will not have his campaign on the Virginia ballot, according to the state Republican Party.
The Georgia Republican, who struggled to gain the necessary signatures for his campaign, failed to have the necessary percentage of signatures authenticating, leaving him off the 2012 ballot.
“After verification, RPV has determined that Newt Gingrich did not submit required 10k signatures and has not qualified for the VA primary,” the Republican Party of Virginia announced early Saturday on its Twitter website.
In a statement released early Saturday, the Gingrich campaign said it would work to wage a write-in campaign, however, it remains unclear whether they will be allowed to do so.
“Only a failed system excludes four out of the six major candidates seeking access to the ballot,” said Gingrich campaign director Michael Krull. “Voters deserve the right to vote for any top contender, especially leading candidates. We will work with the Republican Party of Virginia to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure that all the voters of Virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice,” Krull said.
However, Virginia Code Section 24.2-644(C) rules out write-ins in its first sentence, saying: “At all elections except primary elections it shall be lawful for any voter to vote for any person other than the listed candidates for the office by writing or hand printing the person’s name on the official ballot.”
The development is the latest campaign issue to plague the Gingrich campaign. The Georgia Republican seemed caught off guard in Thursday, flying to Virginia almost immediately after it became clear his campaign failed to meet the looming deadline for submitting signatures.
The state elections office announced Friday that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul would be the only candidates on the ballot. Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will not be included on the ballot.
