Three minor-party candidates, one a former U.S. Representative from southwest Virginia, have qualified to be on the state’s presidential ballot, according to the State Board of Elections.

Virgil Goode Jr., who served in Congress for 12 years, well surpassed the 10,000 valid signatures – including at least 400 from each of the commonwealth’s 11 congressional districts – necessary to qualify for the ballot, multiple media outlets have reported.

“A total of 20,673 signatures have been submitted while only 10,000 valid signatures were required,” Goode’s staff notes on his Facebook page. “We hope and expect this is sufficient for ballot certification. Goode offers the vision that American needs now.”

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein have also qualified for the ballot.

Johnson is no stranger to politics himself. He served as the governor of New Mexico as a Republican from 1995 to 2003.

Stein, a physician, has held elected office only on a town governing board in Massachusetts, the state where she has made two unsuccessful gubernatorial bids as a third-party candidate.

Goode, who first served in Congress as a Democrat, then as an Independent, then a Republican, is being touted by many political pundits as a threat to GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s campaign in Virginia, widely viewed as one of the most critical swing states in the country.

Polls all summer have shown Romney and President Barack Obama virtually tied in the race for Virginia’s 13 electoral votes. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Sept. 11 showed Obama garnering 49 percent to Romney’s 48 percent.

The Republican Party of Virginia is challenging the validity of Goode’s submitted signatures.

-Trevor Baratko