McAuliffe, Herring called as witnesses in lawsuit to remove Democrat from ballot

RICHMOND, Va. (WSET) — On June 2, a lawsuit was filed against the Board of Elections for allowing Democratic candidate for governor Terry McAuliffe to run while failing to sign an official form declaring his candidacy.

The lawsuit was filed by five parties, a majority of whom are Democrats.

Just last month, the Republican Party of Virginia also filed a lawsuit asking the courts to remove McAuliffe from the ballot for the very same reason.

"The declaration must be declared legally insufficient, and McAuliffe must be disqualified from appearing on any general election ballot,” Republicans wrote in a complaint filed in Richmond City Circuit Court.

RELATED: 'McAuliffe must be disqualified': Va. Republicans file suit over McAuliffe's paperwork

The group of civil rights activists are seeking a special election "to select someone who isn't an invalid candidate," the attorney on the case said.

Amina Matheny-Willard, counsel for the majority Democrat plaintiffs, says her clients want the State of Virginia to follow the law and not allow a candidate with invalid paperwork to run in the General Election.

In response, McAuliffe asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that nothing in the Virginia code requires a candidate to sign the declaration of candidacy.

As of Tuesday, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, Terry McAuliffe and an array of others, including politicians and a professor at the University of Virginia, have been issued subpoenas to appear in Richmond City Circuit Court on Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. The court will re-hear the case for an injunction.

RELATED: McAuliffe asks court to dismiss GOP lawsuit over paperwork

Matheny-Willard said a news conference regarding the subpoenas and case will be held Wednesday. The news conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the John Marshall Courts Building in Richmond.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated this lawsuit was filed by the Virginia GOP; while the Republican Party of Virginia does have a similar lawsuit pending, this particular case was filed on behalf of five Black civil rights activists.