Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Virginia GOP filed a lawsuit against Terry McAuliffe to remove him from the November ballot as governor.
McAuliffe was previously a governor and was again nominated to be the party's nominee.
Republicans claim that McAuliffe's campaign is invalidated by McAuliffe missing a signature on his candidacy form.
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The Republican Party of Virginia filed a lawsuit Thursday to remove Terry McAuliffe, Democratic nominee for governor, from the November ballot. According to The Richmond Times-Dispatch, McAuliffe's election paperwork did not meet the official guidelines because he had a missing signature.
The lawsuit was filed by the state GOP in Richmond Circuit Court. It alleged that McAuliffe did not sign his "declaration to candidacy" form. This is required in order to qualify for the Commonwealth's primary and general elections ballots. Two McAuliffe staffers, who witnessed McAuliffe signing the form, are also accused of making false statements.
McAuliffe was the previous governor, and he easily won the Democratic primary for gubernatorial in June.
In a 20-page document, an attorney representing the Virginia GOP claims that McAuliffe's Declaration is illegally infected by the omission of the paperwork and other constitutional rights violations.
McAuliffe's false signature and declaration signed by two purported witnesses is clearly in violation of Virginia law. It should have been rejected both by the [board of election] and the Department of Elections. The lawsuit states that it was not. McAuliffe's failure to sign McAuliffe’s Declaration is combined with false witness attestations that render his candidacy in violation of Virginia law null.
McAuliffe's June primaries victory should be null and McAuliffe should be removed on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.
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Rich Anderson, chairman of Virginia Republican Party, stated in a statement that McAuliffe’s "clear violations of the law severely compromises the integrity of our election in Virginia."
McAuliffe's campaign dismissed the lawsuit as a "desperate” ploy to help Glenn Youngkin, a former executive in private equity and first-time candidate.
Christina Freundlich, spokeswoman for the campaign, stated that "our campaign submitted all required paperwork." "This is nothing but a desperate Trumpian move of the Virginia GOP to deny voters a choice in this electoral election because Terry is consistently leading the polls."
Virginia Department of Elections did not comment on the matter.
McAuliffe filed Friday a motion to dismiss a Republican lawsuit in Richmond Circuit Court. He argued that the "complaint was based upon a legal lie" while contending that the GOP "seeks improperly to use this Court to deny Virginia's voters their right to elect their next governor."
According to Virginia law, the Republican Party cited this section in their lawsuit. It states that a candidate's declaration must be acknowledged by an officer with the authority to acknowledge deeds or attested before two qualified witnesses.
The law cited does not require a signature. However, the candidate form requires that the declaration be either "acknowledged in front of a notary" (or "witnessed in front of two persons") who are qualified voters.
McAuliffe has a small lead in recent polls, but Christopher Newport University's poll this week showed him ahead by 9 points (50% to 41%) among likely voters.
The current governor, Ralph Northam (Democrat), is currently on a term-limit and cannot run for reelection.
Virginia has changed from a conservative stronghold into a Democratic-leaning Southern State over the past 20-years. Since 2009, Republicans have not won any statewide races in Virginia.
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