Posted on Oct 3, 2023
Virginia election officials acknowledge voters mistakenly removed from rolls
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Virginia State Police are changing what information gets reported to ELECT.
A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Elections said Tuesday the state is working to resolve an issue that caused an unknown number of eligible voters to be removed from the state’s rolls. The move follows VPM News reporting that found people with probation violations lost their eligibility to vote under changes the department instituted over the last year.
ELECT spokesperson Andrea Gaines said state election officials were working with Virginia State Police to identify the names of people whose registration was “canceled in error,” a process she said began Tuesday. In an email, Gaines wrote that ELECT would then pass along those names to local registrars to immediately reinstate the voters.
“Whenever ELECT receives information about a problem with an individual’s registration, we work diligently to research and address the issue,” Gaines said. She did not provide a timeline for reinstating all of the affected voters.
The response marks a change in tone for the department and its leader, Commissioner Susan Beals. In a Sept. 22 email to state Sen. Scott Surovell (D–Fairfax), Beals defended the department's voter registration cancellations, saying it “strictly follows” state law.
A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Elections said Tuesday the state is working to resolve an issue that caused an unknown number of eligible voters to be removed from the state’s rolls. The move follows VPM News reporting that found people with probation violations lost their eligibility to vote under changes the department instituted over the last year.
ELECT spokesperson Andrea Gaines said state election officials were working with Virginia State Police to identify the names of people whose registration was “canceled in error,” a process she said began Tuesday. In an email, Gaines wrote that ELECT would then pass along those names to local registrars to immediately reinstate the voters.
“Whenever ELECT receives information about a problem with an individual’s registration, we work diligently to research and address the issue,” Gaines said. She did not provide a timeline for reinstating all of the affected voters.
The response marks a change in tone for the department and its leader, Commissioner Susan Beals. In a Sept. 22 email to state Sen. Scott Surovell (D–Fairfax), Beals defended the department's voter registration cancellations, saying it “strictly follows” state law.
Virginia election officials acknowledge voters mistakenly removed from rolls
Posted from vpm.org
Voting
Elections
Posted 7 mo ago
Responses: 2
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."“These are the kinds of things that you should game out before you make changes to systems like this that affects people's constitutional rights,” Surovell said.
Those comments were echoed by Tram Nguyen, co-executive director of the progressive group New Virginia Majority, and Shawn Weneta, a policy advocate for the ACLU of Virginia. In an email, Weneta said ELECT’s actions “have already had a chilling effect on Virginians' participation in early voting.”
A spokesperson for Gov. Glenn Youngkin did not respond to requests for comment on whether the administration had any role in the voter removals. Youngkin’s office defended the practice in a statement to VPM News last week."
..."“These are the kinds of things that you should game out before you make changes to systems like this that affects people's constitutional rights,” Surovell said.
Those comments were echoed by Tram Nguyen, co-executive director of the progressive group New Virginia Majority, and Shawn Weneta, a policy advocate for the ACLU of Virginia. In an email, Weneta said ELECT’s actions “have already had a chilling effect on Virginians' participation in early voting.”
A spokesperson for Gov. Glenn Youngkin did not respond to requests for comment on whether the administration had any role in the voter removals. Youngkin’s office defended the practice in a statement to VPM News last week."
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