A court granted a temporary injunction blocking appointment of over 30 elections officers in Prince William County after the Republican Party of Virginia alleged problems including that some of the officers were self-designated Republicans – not nominated by the RPV.
Additionally in the October filing, the RPV argued that in other precincts, both the chief and assistant chief officers were from the same party. Finally, the RPV said that the county elections board had sought to appoint nonpartisan officers in some precincts even though the RPV could provide nominees.
However, lawyers for the board said that the party had failed to provide nominees by the deadline, and hadn’t provided nominees for about 20 years, Courthouse News reported.
On Wednesday, Prince William Circuit Court Judge Thomas Horne ordered that the appointments be blocked, allowing the RPV to have its nominees installed with less than a week until Election Day.
RPV Chair Rich Anderson said in a press release, “No one is above the law, and the Prince William County Elections Office violated state law by denying Republicans equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process. The Republican Party believes that to be fair, honest, and open, elections must be conducted following every rule in place. The Code of Virginia sets out clear rules about the appointment of officers of election representing the political parties. I’m pleased that Judge Horne agreed with our position.”
Courthouse News reported that after the hearing, Electoral Board Secretary Keith Scarborough warned that the last-minute effort to train new elections officers could have consequences, and criticized Republicans for their role in the situation.
“It’s outrageous that the Republican committee did next to nothing to recruit new officers,” Scarborough said, according to Courthouse.
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rich Anderson” by Rich Anderson.
