ACLU of Virginia

530 East Main Street, Suite 310 Richmond, Virginia 23219 (804) 644-8022

January 5, 2012

Via Facsimile (804-343-1060)

State Central Committee

Republican Party of Virginia
The Richard D. Obenshain Center
115 E. Grace Street
Richmond, VA 23219

Dear Committee Members:

I write to urge the Republican Party of Virginia to rescind the requirement that voters in
Virginia’s Republican primary sign a pledge to support the Party nominee. The ACLU of Virginia
believes that this requirement is unconstitutional, and is prepared to sue the Party on behalf of
affected Republican voters if the pledge requirement remains in place.

The pledge requirement places severe burdens on Republican voters. Some voters who are
bona fide Republicans may yet find it impossible to state, in advance, that they will agree to vote for
a nominee other than the candidate they support. Voters who do not feel that they can make this
promise in good faith will be deterred from exercising their right to vote in the Republican primary.
Additionally, some Republican voters who do intend to support the eventual nominee but value the
secret ballot may not wish to proclaim their intentions publicly by signing a loyalty oath.

For these reasons, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit invalidated a
West Virginia requirement that voters signing a nominating petition for a third-party candidate must
declare that they desire to vote for that candidate. Socialist Workers Party v. Hechler, 890 F.2d 1303
(4th Cir. 1989). The court held that such a requirement undermined the right to a secret ballot, and
chilled voters’ participation in the minority party nominating process. The Republican Party of
Virginia’s proposed pledge is similarly constitutionally flawed.

The ACLU of Virginia appreciates the Party’s right to protect its organizational integrity by
preventing those who oppose the Party’s goals from helping to choose its nominee. But this right is
protected by Virginia’s statutes allowing political parties to opt for a privately run nominating
process, such as a caucus or convention, rather than a state-run, state-funded primary. “[A] party is
free to select from various methods of nomination in which it can exclude voters who do not share its
views. . . . It is only when the party chooses to hold a primary operated and funded by the state that it
must allow all voters to participate.” Miller v. Brown, 503 F.3d 360, 368 (4th Cir. 2007).

For these reasons, we ask that the Party respect the First Amendment rights of Republican
voters and rescind the loyalty oath requirement.

Sincerely,

Rebecca K. Glenberg
Legal Director