http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virginia-politics/2012/aug/25/tdmet01-goode-libertarian-green-candidates-file-fo-ar-2152319/

Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: August 25, 2012

Goode, Libertarian, Green candidates file for Va. presidential ballot

By Jim Nolan

Former Virginia Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., the Constitution Party’s presidential nominee, has submitted 20,500 signatures to the State Board of Elections in an effort to get on the Virginia ballot in November — a move that could siphon votes from Republican Mitt Romney in a crucial battleground state.
Also submitting signatures by Friday’s noon deadline were Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, a former two-term governor of New Mexico, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein, a medical doctor who once ran against Romney for governor of Massachusetts.
To qualify for the Virginia ballot, a candidate must submit at least 10,000 verified signatures of qualified voters, including at least 400 from each of the state’s 11 congressional districts.

The Green Party claimed to have submitted 13,000 signatures; the Libertarian Party did not provide the elections board with a total number, according to officials. State Board of Elections spokesman Justin Riemer said the board will not issue preliminary, unofficial numbers to the public until next week. The petitions now will be reviewed and forwarded to local registrars to verify signatures. Riemer said the board is likely to announce which candidates qualified at its next meeting in early September.

Goode represented Southside Virginia in Congress as a Democrat, Republican and independent between 1997 and 2009.
While third-party candidates likely have little chance of winning, their inclusion on the ballot has the potential to influence elections, especially in battleground states.
In 2000, Green Party nominee Ralph Nader received more than 97,000 votes in Florida. Texas Gov. George W. Bush won the state by 537 votes over Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee.

Goode lost his congressional seat in 2008 to Democrat Tom Perriello, who lost the seat to Republican Robert Hurt in 2010.
As the Constitution Party nominee, Goode, a pro-gun, anti-abortion candidate, has staked out positions calling for the preservation of Medicare and tighter controls on immigration.

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said Goode’s candidacy in Virginia may not be good for Republicans, whom he predicts will work hard to see him excluded from the ballot.

“Goode’s votes could very well make a difference (in Virginia),” Sabato said. “Even if he gets only 1 percent, he could be the difference. … A large percent of his vote will come out of the Romney column.”
Sabato said the Romney camp also could lose votes to the Libertarian Party if Johnson is certified for the ballot, but he noted that the Libertarians have garnered more than 1 percent of the vote once in the past 32 years.