What YOU can do next Tuesday
On September 17, I wrote a post encouraging readers to push back against an attempt by the Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) to disregard missing or illegible postmarks on absentee ballot return envelopes.
Public comments against the SBE proposed postmark regulation soared to 751 before the comment period closed on October 2! Because a minimum 25 comments are required to trigger a public hearing, the public hearing on this proposal will take place next Tuesday, October 20. You can join online.
The SBE meeting will start at 1 PM, and the postmark regulation will be first on the agenda. Anyone who joins the online meeting will have the opportunity to speak about the proposed regulation. Imagine if 751 people asked to be heard!
It is not known at this time how long the public discussion period will be. If you join the meeting and want to comment, I urge you to keep your comments brief (30 seconds to one minute) to enable as many voices as possible to be heard.
There is a possibility that the Board will try to adopt the regulation without a vote. We must hold them accountable and not allow that to happen!
Follow this link to see the Agenda and join the Board of Elections meeting next Tuesday (see “Electronic Access”). The Agenda is being updated to reflect that the public hearing on the proposed regulation will be first.
Remember, this year for the first time, absentee ballots in Virginia can be counted after Election Day as long as they arrive by Noon the following Friday and are postmarked by Election Day. If adopted, the SBE’s proposed regulation would allow the acceptance of ballots that arrive without a postmark or with an illegible postmark. The potential for fraud is blatant.
You should know that the Republican Party of Virginia and the Public Interest Legal Foundation have filed a lawsuit against the State Board of Elections’ proposed postmark regulation. The lawsuit recognizes that the SBE has no authority to override Virginia statute with a regulation. Virginia law requires absentee ballot return envelopes arriving by Noon on Friday after Election Day to bear a postmark, signifying that they were mailed by Election Day.
It is imperative that citizens speak out forcefully against the Board of Elections’ attempt to subvert Virginia law! Please join the Board of Elections online meeting next Tuesday and let your voice be heard.
Stop voter fraud in its tracks!
