Martin Austermuhle
On the very day that the Libertarian Party filed suit against D.C. over restrictions on who can gather signatures to get candidates on the ballot, a Virginia court ruled that similar restrictions in the commonwealth are unconstitutional.
In a decision announced yesterday, a District Court in Richmond found that rules prohibiting out-of-state residents from gathering signatures on nominating petitions infringe are unconstitutional. “[T]he court finds the restriction on out-of-state petition circulators to be unconstitutional. The law places a severe burden on the plaintiffs’ freedom of speech and is not narrowly tailored to promote a compelling state interest,” read the decision by Judge John A. Gibney.
In the decision, Gibney added that while Virginia may have a compelling state interest in limiting who can and cannot circulate nominating petitions, the existing rules are not narrowly tailored enough to pass constitutional muster. Additionally, he says, the restrictions go so far as to infringe upon the First Amendment.
“By imposing a state residency requirement on petition circulators, the Board deprives non-residents of a means to engage in core political speech and reduces the quality of such speech available to its residents,” wrote Gibney.
The lawsuit was brought by the Libertarian Party of Virginia earlier this year, who argued that the restrictions made it impossible to gather the 10,000 signatures needed to get a party candidate on the statewide ballot. The main plaintiff was Darryl Bonner, a New York resident and professional petition circulator, who argued that he should be able to circulate petitions in Virginia on behalf of libertarian candidates. Under the old rules, he wasn’t allowed to; if this week’s ruling stands, he and other out-of-state residents will be free to do so.
The lawsuit filed here in D.C. targets the same restrictions: according to D.C. rules, only registered D.C. voters can circulate nominating petitions.
