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To The Editor:

Bob Good, a candidate for the 5th Congressional District, didn’t turn in his paperwork on time — a one-page form requiring basic information.

This was neither an obscure requirement nor a burdensome one. A readily available candidate guide and the form itself state the deadline, a set date of June 9, not a variable deadline tied to other events. Good either didn’t bother to check the rules for becoming a candidate or didn’t understand the clear requirements. If he was confused, he could have asked. Better yet, he could have just filed the uncomplicated document by June 9. What good did Good’s procrastination serve?

Virginia code §24.2-504 clearly provides that “[o]nly a person fulfilling the requirements of a candidate shall have his name printed on the ballot for the election.” Why shouldn’t the law apply to Good? A Virginia federal court in El-Amin v. State Bd. of Elections (E.D. Va. 1989), a case with similar circumstances, held that the “Constitution does not protect candidates from their own carelessness.” Amen. 

Good will now spend the first weeks of his campaign pleading with the Board of Elections to excuse his carelessness. Whatever the board decides, voters should carefully consider whether to entrust their vote to someone who cannot handle even the simplest paperwork.

I will be voting for someone I know can handle representing us in Congress: a doctor, lawyer and exceptional person — Dr. Cameron Webb. I encourage you to do the same. You can’t miss his name. It will definitely be on the ballot.

Tim Hickey

Charlottesville