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# Virginia GOP Primary highlights need for ballot access reform
- URL: https://ivn.us/virginia-gop-primary-highlights-need-for-ballot-access-reform-2/
- Published: 2012-01-02T19:35:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-22T19:21:48.000Z
- Author: Jane Susskind
- Tags: News

In Virginia, only two candidates have qualified for the VA GOP primary election: Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. Why? Because the restrictions for ballot access make it **nearly impossible** for candidates to gain access, causing Bachmann, Santorum, and Huntsman to not even submit a petition and preventing Gingrich and Perry from getting enough signatures to qualify.

> “Anyone who thinks requiring thousands of signatures to get on the ballot is compatible with a free society needs to research the history and justifications for these oppressive laws a bit more,” - [Marc Montoni](http://freevirginia.blogspot.com/2011/12/teachable-moment-for-republicans.html?ref=ivn.us), the Secretary of the Libertarian Party of Virginia

> *It’s time to open the ballot in the United States to ensure that the election process serves the people rather than the ruling parties, special interests, and entrenched incumbents. -IVN contributor*

Read the full article at [IVNetwork](https://ivn.us/news/2012/01/02/virginia-gop-primary-highlights-need-for-ballot-access-reform/)