A new watchdog report makes clear that Virginia is at risk on the election security front, not because of issues with voting machines, as Fox News regularly tells its viewers, but from the impact of election denialism.
The report, from the nonpartisan group Informing Democracy, details the troubling trend of election deniers and subverters and Jan. 6 rally attendees being appointed to positions of power on local electoral boards across the Commonwealth.
One example is right here in our backyard, over in Albemarle County, where the vice chair, Clara Belle Wheeler, is a senior fellow for the far-right think tank Virginia Institute for Public Policy, and has led seminars and trainings for election-denier groups.
Wheeler is a former member of the State Board of Elections who faced calls to resign from that body in 2017 after claiming that “well-orchestrated” voter fraud “happens every day,” and saying publicly that “it’s not who votes that counts, it’s who counts the votes.”
Also highlighted in the report is how the 2-1 Republican majorities on local electoral boards statewide were exploited in 2023 with multiple boards either not renewing the contracts of their registrars or putting inexperienced registrars in the job.
One example there: down Route 29 in Lynchburg, which replaced its registrar, Christine Gibbons, who alleged in a lawsuit over her dismissal that she was let go because she is not part of the Republican Party that “loudly professed” that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
The report, after noting these issues, was nonetheless written to try to put something of a positive spin on Nov. 5, noting hopefully that our 2023 state elections seemed to go off without a hitch.
“We believe Virginia’s elections are secure and are fortified with robust protections and oversight measures outlined in state law and statutes. Yet, we remain vigilant as local officials may look to exploit vulnerabilities to undermine Virginia’s voters,” said Jenny Gimian, Director of Election Law Research and Senior Counsel at Informing Democracy. “Our elections belong to the voters — and with tools like our in-depth state report, we believe that journalists and pro-democracy advocates will be better able to hold election officials accountable and ensure Virginia’s elections remain free, fair, and transparent”
I’ll throw in here that, right here in Waynesboro, where AFP is based, the two Republicans on our electoral board have filed suit to assert their right to not certify the 2024 election unless they are allowed to conduct a hand count of the votes cast in the city.
Between this, and reporting that we’re working on about efforts by top Virginia Republican officials to create a justification for Gov. Glenn Youngkin to be able to say that there are too many questions about the results for him to certify the election, I dunno, I want to feel good about where things are headed between now and the week of the Nov. 5 election, but I don’t think I can.
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Chris Graham
