Virginia GOP Imposes “Loyalty Oath” for Presidential Primary

Although they have only two candidates on the ballot – Willard “Mitt” Romney and Ron Paul – the Virginia Republican Party apparently feels it needs to work even harder to reduce turnout for its presidential primary.

At the request of the Virginia Republican Party, the State Board of Elections voted 3-0 today to close the March 6 presidential primary and require a loyalty oath for participation.

That means anyone who wants to vote must sign a form at the polling place pledging to support the eventual Republican nominee for president. Anyone who refuses to sign the pledge will be barred from voting.

So much for Democrats flooding the polls en masse – not that this was ever likely to happen, but whatever – to vote against McDonnell’s/Bolling’s favorite, Mr. “Corporations are PEOPLE!” Gotta love these guys.

P.S. In related news, RPV Chair Pat Mullins says he followed the rules “by certifying the candidates who met the statutory requirements.”

UPDATE: Too Conservative blog writes:

This is really turning into a freak show with the late return of “THE PLEDGE”.  RPV is demanding that voters in the Presidential primary sign one of their ridiculous pledges, and the SBE, chaired by longtime RPV fixture Charles Judd, voted to allow this.  Unfortunately, as pointed out by Vivian Page, this is supposed to happen 90 days prior to the election date and may not be enforceable.  Looks like another lawsuit coming down the pike.

The more I see of this whole process the more it stinks of an establishment push to help Romney at the expense of the other candidates.