THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 27, 1996 TAG: 9601270236
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
State GOP Chairman Patrick McSweeney said Friday that he expects that a lawsuit will be filed this winter to prevent Democrats from voting in the June 11 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate.
Because Virginia does not register voters by their political party affiliation, all voters - including Democrats and independents - are eligible to participate in the Republican primary.
The suit, McSweeney said, would challenge that law. If successful, it would begin voter registration by political party this spring by requiring people to sign a loyalty statement to the Republican Party before they would be allowed to vote in the primary.
``I think it's probably 100 percent or as close to 100 percent as you can get,'' McSweeney said, when asked about the likelihood of the suit being filed.
McSweeney said the suit likely will be filed by GOP activists whom he declined to name and that the state party, technically, would not be a litigant.
Many Republican leaders have voiced concern that the open primary law could allow Democrats to influence the results of their nomination process by voting for the candidate they perceive to be the weakest.
The issue is particularly important this year with U.S. Sen. John W. Warner facing a challenge for the nomination from James C. Miller III, a former Reagan administration budget chief.
Many GOP activists argue that Warner has not been supportive of conservative causes and that his best hope of winning the primary hinges on receiving crossover votes from Democrats and independents.
McSweeney mentioned the possibility of the lawsuit Friday at the opening of a three-day annual winter meeting of the state GOP at the Hyatt Hotel in Richmond.
Warner and Miller were scheduled to deliver speeches at a dinner Friday night. Warner, however, was delayed in Washington where the Senate was voting on budget matters.
Warner declined an invitation to debate Miller before the GOP. Warner sought to make amends by challenging Miller to a March 8 debate in Williamsburg. ``Absolutely,'' replied Miller.
KEYWORDS: PRIMARY GOP LAWSUIT by CNB