Gingrich camp assails Virginia's "failed system"

The campaign of Newt Gingrich assailed a "failed system" for his failure to make it onto the ballot for the Virginia Republican primary.

The state GOP announced early Saturday morning that Gingrich's campaign had failed to submit the required number of signatures to qualify for the March 6 primary. On Friday it was announced that Texas Gov. Rick Perry had also failed to qualify.

Gingrich, Perry fail to make Va. Ballot

The state's election board requires candidates petitioning for inclusion in the primary to file 10,000 signatures from registered voters, including 400 from each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts.

It was reported Thursday that Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman were also off the ballot. So far, only former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul are officially on the primary ballot.

On Saturday Newt 2012 released the following statement from Campaign Director Michael Krull:

"Only a failed system excludes four out of the six major candidates seeking access to the ballot. Voters deserve the right to vote for any top contender, especially leading candidates. We will work with the Republican Party of Virginia to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure that all the voters of Virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice."

They will have to get VERY aggressive: Under Virginia law (§ 24.2-529), write-in votes are not allowed on ballots in primary elections.