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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Virginia attorney general changes mind, won’t intervene in primary ballot case

???initialComments:true! pubdate:01/01/2012 19:44 EST! commentPeriod:14! commentEndDate:1/15/12 7:44 EST! currentDate:1/14/12 7:0 EST! allowComments:true! displayComments:true!Posted by Aaron Blake at 07:44 PM ET, 01/01/2012

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) announced Sunday that he has reconsidered his decision from Saturday and will not seek to get several GOP presidential candidates added to the state’s primary ballot.

Every candidate except Mitt Romney and Ron Paul failed to meet the stringent requirements to get on the ballot for the state’s March 6 primary, and Cuccinelli said Saturday that he would seek to get them added to the ballot.

But in a statement Sunday, he reversed course and said he would seek a change in the requirements for future elections only.

In the end, Cuccinelli said trying to make immediate changes wouldn’t be fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns.

“I obviously feel very strongly that Virginia needs to change its ballot access requirements for our statewide elections,” Cuccinelli said. “However, after working through different scenarios with Republican and Democratic leaders to attempt to make changes in time for the 2012 presidential election, my concern grows that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns that qualified even with Virginia’s burdensome system. A further critical factor that I must consider is that changing the rules midstream is inconsistent with respecting and preserving the rule of law — something I am particularly sensitive to as Virginia’s attorney general.

The state requires 10,000 signatures to get on the ballot, and requires that those circulating petitions be eligible or registered Virginia voters.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry both said the requirements were unfair, and Perry is suing to get on the ballot. Lawyers for Gingrich, Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman sent a letter to the Virginia State Board of Elections on Saturday saying they will be filing a joint motion asking the panel to either add them to the state ballot or to take no action until a judge has had a chance to consider Perry’s case Jan. 13.

Cucinelli added a note of contrition at the end of his statement Sunday. He said he was trying to do what was best for the citizens of Virginia, but that he must uphold the law as it was written.

“I do not change position on issues of public policy often or lightly,” Cuccinelli said. “But when convinced that my position is wrong, I think it necessary to concede as much and adjust accordingly.”

Washington Post Staff Writer Anita Kumar contributed to this post.

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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Virginia attorney general changes mind, won’t intervene in primary ballot case

???initialComments:true! pubdate:01/01/2012 19:44 EST! commentPeriod:14! commentEndDate:1/15/12 7:44 EST! currentDate:1/15/12 4:0 EST! allowComments:true! displayComments:true!Posted by Aaron Blake at 07:44 PM ET, 01/01/2012

But in a statement Sunday, he reversed course and said he would seek a change in the requirements for future elections only.

In the end, Cuccinelli said trying to make immediate changes wouldn’t be fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns.

The state requires 10,000 signatures to get on the ballot, and requires that those circulating petitions be eligible or registered Virginia voters.

Cucinelli added a note of contrition at the end of his statement Sunday. He said he was trying to do what was best for the citizens of Virginia, but that he must uphold the law as it was written.

Washington Post Staff Writer Anita Kumar contributed to this post.

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New Hampshire ballot order not a boon to Romney

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New Hampshire ballot order not a boon to Romney

View Photo Gallery — January:?Republican candidates prepare for the New Hampshire primary.

Text SizePrintE-mailReprints By Jon Cohen,

Mitt Romney may be favored in the New Hampshire primary, but the state’s ballot may hurt the former Massachusetts governor’s bid to meet the lofty expectations that he carries into the contest.

Romney appears third from the bottom of the list of 30 candidates in the state’s Republican presidential primary. It’s a position likely to drag down Romney’s numbers, according to research by Stanford professor Jon Krosnick.

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Ballot order can make a big difference, particularly when voters are undecided or conflicted headed into the polls. In 2008, for example, Krosnick estimated that Hillary Clinton gained at least 3 percentage points over Barack Obama in New Hampshire because her name was near the top of the ballot, his near the bottom. (Clinton won the primary by about 3 percentage points.)

The reason ballot order plays a large role, Krosnick explains, is a psychological process called “confirmatory choice.” When voters are undecided, they read down a list of names, with higher odds of selecting one they come across higher than lower. They may simply say “good enough” when they come to a satisfactory candidate.

The structure of this year’s Republican ballot is unlikely to tip Romney from his perch high atop the polls, but it could affect how well he does compared with pre-election polls. And it may have a significant effect on the other candidates vying for high finishes.

New Hampshire’s Secretary of State lists candidates in alphabetical order, starting at a random place. This year’s GOP ballot starts with Joe Story, runs from there through the alphabet, ending up at Rick Santorum.

Santorum is probably the biggest loser in the ballot order. Not only is he at the bottom of the list, but two candidates listed near the top may take some votes from him.

Those two candidates – Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain – have suspended their campaigns for the nomination but remain on the ballot, close to the top. Since Santorum has recently excelled among the same tea party conservatives who once flocked to Bachmann and Cain, the former Pennsylvania senator may suffer marginally as a result.

Who benefits this year?

At position 14, Newt Gingrich is tops among major active candidates. Next up is Jon Huntsman at spot 17.

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