Judge Likely To Install Candidates To Virginia Ballot?

Interesting.

From the Foundry, the judge has issued a five-page order signalling the likely disposition of one aspect of the suit:

There is a strong likelihood that the Court will find the residency requirement for petition circulators to be unconstitutional. The authorities make clear that circulating petitions for candidates is a form of protected speech, and that the Commonwealth has a heavy burden to justify the restriction on speech by showing not only that the limitation achieves a valid state interest but also that the limitation is no broader in scope than necessary to achieve that purpose. As in all strict scrutiny cases, the state has a difficult task to demonstrate the propriety of its limitation on protected speech. For this reason, the Court believes that the plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of succeeding on the merits, at least on the issue of the validity of the residency requirement.

When seeking emergency relief -- relief before a full trial -- you have to make an initial showing that you're likely to prevail on the merits in a full trial. The judge (obviously) says he believes the plaintiffs will prevail.

posted by Ace at 04:48 PM

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