The Shadow
RICHMOND (AP) – Two of Virginia government’s highest-ranking Republicans said Thursday that the state Republican Party’s governing body should rescind its decision to require GOP presidential primary voters to sign a loyalty oath.
Gov. Bob McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling both called on the state GOP to scrap the proposal that its central committee adopted a month ago.
Virginia does not register voters by party, so the March 6 primary is open to all voters.
Conservatives within the state GOP, long hostile to potential that independents or – worse – Democrats could meddle in their nominations, have sought greater control over those who vote in their primaries. The Virginia GOP has often used statewide conventions instead of primaries to guarantee their standard-bearers are chosen free of outside influence.
At the party’s annual winter gathering early last month at the Homestead Resort, the GOP State Central Committee voted to require the oath of all who vote in the Super Tuesday primary in Virginia to support the nominee in November’s general election.
The State Board of Elections later approved forms to implement the loyalty pledge.
But after several influential Republicans complained about the oath, state GOP Chairman Pat Mullins called another meeting for Jan. 21 to reconsider the decision.
One of the General Assembly’s most socially conservative members, Del. Robert G. Marshall of Manassas, was among those who denounced the oath. He praised McDonnell and Bolling for coming out against it.
“If you want people to support you in November, then why would you be putting up stop signs in March?” asked Marshall, who is considering a U.S. Senate bid.
McDonnell said he understands why the party’s die-hards support the requirement, but said in a news release Thursday it is “unenforceable and I do not believe it is in the best interests of our Party.”
“The effect of the oath could be one of diminishing participation in the primary, at a time when our Party must be expanding its base and membership as we head in to the pivotal 2012 general elections this fall,” he wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia also urged GOP leaders to rescind the loyalty oath and vowed to sue if they do not.
“Some voters who are bona fide Republicans may yet find it impossible to state, in advance, that they will agree to vote for a nominee other than the candidate they support,” ACLU of Virginia legal director Rebecca K. Glenberg wrote Thursday in a letter to the State Central Committee.
“Voters who do not feel that they can make this promise in good faith will be deterred from exercising their right to vote in the Republican primary.”
McDonnell said he favors legislation to establish voluntary party registration, which “would eliminate the need for any oaths or pledges.”
Only two Republicans qualified in Virginia for the presidential primary ballot: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum failed to submit the required number of signatures to get on the ballot. They are asking a federal court to invalidate Virginia’s petition requirement and order their names placed on the ballot.
