With a new poll showing Democrat Terry McAuliffe leading Republican Glenn Youngkin in the 2021 race for governor of Virginia, the commonwealth's Republican Party is asking a court to keep McAuliffe from appearing on the ballot.
"The lawsuit, filed in Richmond Circuit Court, argues that McAuliffe never signed his declaration of candidacy form, a step in the process to qualify for the primary and general election ballot. It also claims that two McAuliffe staffers who signed on as having witnessed McAuliffe signing the document did so falsely," the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
However, the relevant section of state law "doesn't explicitly require the candidate's signature anywhere," Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Mel Leoner noted.
McAuliffe campaign spokesperson Christina Freundlich blasted the lawsuit.
"This is nothing more than a desperate Trumpian move by the Virginia GOP to deprive voters of a choice in this election because Terry is consistently leading in the polls," she said.
The Christopher Newport University poll released Thursday showed McAuliffe leading Youngkin, 50% to 41%.
The Republican Party of Virginia says McAuliffe's missing signature from the elex paperwork should disqualify him from the ballot.https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/virginia-gop-sues-to-remove-mcauliffe-from-ballot-democrats-campaign-calls-lawsuit-desperate/article_34252271-28d3-5f4e-bcd4-29d1fcc57911.html#tracking-source=home-breaking\u00a0\u2026— Mel Leonor (@Mel Leonor) 1630010631
As @ajm0614 points out, the code section related to this document doesn't explicitly require the candidate's signature anywhere. I don't know what case law or interpretations exist on this question, though.https://twitter.com/ajm0614/status/1430982932978708481?s=20\u00a0\u2026— Mel Leonor (@Mel Leonor) 1630010636
