Ex-Rep. Goode qualifies for presidential ballot in Virginia, frustrating Republicans

Former Virginia congressman Virgil Goode has qualified for his home state's presidential ballot, the State Board of Elections announced Tuesday — a potential stumbling block for Mitt Romney's chances in a state whose 13 electoral votes the challenger desperately needs to win in November.

Republicans are fretting that Goode's outside bid could pull pivotal percentage votes away from Mitt Romney in the southern reaches of the swing state. 

In a poll from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling released last month, Goode was the choice of 4 percent of voters. While that represents a small percentage overall, it's also half the deficit between Romney and President Obama in the state. With polling steadily showing the Republican challenger trailing by small margins, Romney could need every vote he can get.

Goode, a popular six-term congressman from the southwestern part of the state, was originally elected to Congress as a Democrat, but switched party affiliations multiple times, serving his last two terms as a Republican. In 2008, he lost to former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.), but remains well known and liked among conservatives in the pivotal swing state. He is running for president as a member of the Constitution Party.

But Goode's place on the ballot has not been set in stone. The Virginia state GOP is challenging Goode's eligibility, saying in a petition to the attorney general's office that many of the more than 20,000 signatures submitted to the state election's office were fraudulent. Goode submitted more than double the total number of signatures necessary to compete, but Virginia law also mandates at least 400 valid signatures from each of the state's 11 congressional districts — a far tougher hurdle.

“Congressman Goode is on the ballot and his name was drawn to occupy the third position on the presidential ballot,” said Virginia SBE spokeswoman Nikki Sheridan to The Washington Post. “The allegations of petition fraud against the Constitution Party have been forwarded to the office of the attorney general for investigation.”

Goode downplayed the allegations of fraud in an interview with the Richmond Times Dispatch. 

"I've committed no fraud, that's fine with me," Goode said, accusing the state Republican Party of "essentially trying to put its judgment in front of the state Board of Elections."

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