An election integrity group has filed a lawsuit and motion for an injunction against members of the Fairfax County Board of Elections and the Fairfax County General Registrar.
“The case is brought on behalf of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, a local organization that promotes election integrity,” the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) said in a press release. “The lawsuit explains that Fairfax County is violating Virginia law by accepting and approving applications for absentee and mail-in ballots that do not include the last four digits of the applicant’s Social Security number, as required under Virginia statues [sic].”
Early voting began in Virginia on September 18, and Election Day is November 2, raising the question of whether this issue will be resolved before Election Day.
“It is highly likely that our motion will be heard next week, but there is no guarantee,” PILF’s Director of Media Affairs Lauren Bowman told The Virginia Star, adding that the number of absentee ballots already cast in Virginia is “significant.”
Bowman also said that the attempt to remove social security numbers from ballots is a left-wing attempt that weakens election integrity.
“The left clearly is pushing back against any sort of unique identifier to prove you are who say [sic] you are when voting,” she said. “They don’t like voter ID, now social security numbers, or even driver’s license numbers. Fairfax County needs to follow Virginia law. They cannot change the rules in the middle of an election.”
PILF says that not only is Fairfax County violating state law, but that it is also violating the Virginia Constitution.
“The Constitution’s Anti-Suspension Clause requires that laws passed by the Virginia’s legislature are supreme to any act by a local government employee or even the Governor himself,” the press release said. “This is important because it restrains election officials in Virginia from disregarding and replacing election administration laws.”
This is not the first measure taken in Fairfax County that could be viewed as a blow to election integrity.
In mid-October, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors asked Gov. Ralph Northam (D) to allow them to waive the witness signature requirement for absentee ballots. Their rationale was that close contact between witnesses and absentee voters could contribute to the spread of COVID-19.
At the time of this writing, Northam has apparently not granted or denied the request.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Absentee Ballot Drop Off” by Chris Phan. CC BY-SA 3.0.
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