Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lee Carter is once again calling for the randomization of candidates on the June 8 Democratic primary ballot. Reports have shown that being at the top of the ballot almost always has a positive impact on that candidate’s performance in the election.
Typically in Virginia, the ballot order is determined by which candidates turn in their petition signatures to the Department of Elections first. But, due to COVID-19 protocols, candidates were allowed to turn in their ballots at noon on March 8 without fear of missing out on the top ballot spot.
As long as the petitions were present at the Department of Elections by noon of March 8, they would be considered first, simultaneously, with anyone else present at noon.
The campaigns for Jennifer Carroll Foy, Terry McAuliffe, and Jennifer McClellan all turned in their physical signatures at noon, meaning there will be a drawing to determine their order on the ballot. Carter and Justin Fairfax will then follow in fourth and fifth if they submit the required signatures to qualify for the ballot.
According to a release from the Department of Elections, the online database intended for candidates to submit paperwork electronically was supposed to be available as soon as petitions were being accepted. But according to Carter, the electronic filing system was not and is still not available, preventing him from turning in his petition signatures.
“The Department of Elections, contradicting their own electronic petition submission instructions on the Candidate Bulletin, did not set up an online submission system in COMET and apparently advised some candidates to submit paper copies of electronic petitions instead,” the Carter campaign said in a press release Monday.
Carter and Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Paul Goldman filed a lawsuit in 2020 asking for several procedural changes to be made to elections this year. The judge approved other points from that lawsuit that included dropping the number of petition signatures necessary to appear on the ballot down to 2,000 and allowing candidates to collect signatures electronically. But another point in the lawsuit, randomization of candidates on the ballot, was not addressed by the court.
“We originally sued to randomize the candidate names as a matter of principle and fairness,” Delegate Carter said. “Since DOE failed to implement an electronic submission system last Monday, randomization has become essential to the integrity of this year’s process.”
Carter said in an interview that he will submit the signatures physically if he has to. “If that’s what it takes to get on the ballot, that’s what I’ll do, but I’m disgusted by the fact that they just haven’t put up the system that they called for in their own bulletin to prospective candidates.”
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