Virginia AG does about face, won't push to change GOP ballot

Roanoke, Virginia’s WSLS reported on Sunday night that the state’s Attorney General was reversing course from his Saturday statement in which he pledged to work to get the other GOP candidates onto the Virginia ballot.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced Sunday night that he has reconsidered and no longer backs emergency legislation that would seek to get additional candidates on the ballot for Virginia’s March 6 Republican primary.

“I obviously feel very strongly that Virginia needs to change its ballot-access requirements for our statewide elections,” Cuccinelli said in a statement.

“However, after working through different scenarios with Republican and Democratic leaders to attempt to make changes in time for the 2012 presidential election, my concern grows that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns that qualified even with Virginia’s burdensome system.

“A further critical factor that I must consider is that changing the rules midstream is inconsistent with respecting and preserving the rule of law — something I am particularly sensitive to as Virginia’s attorney general.”

Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul had passed the stiff requirements to appear on Virginia’s primary ballot. The other five candidates have joined together in a suit initiated by Rick Perry in hopes that a legal challenge will allow them to compete for Virginia’s 49 delegate votes.

Without the backing of the Attorney General to perhaps speed the process along, any hopes to see more than two GOP candidates on Virginia’s ballot are fading fast.