Chris Graham: How will Romney/Ryan Augusta event play out?

Chris Graham

It would seem at first glance that the Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan event scheduled for Thursday at Augusta Expoland in Fishersville would be so much overkill given the recent voting history in Greater Augusta. Barack Obama, en route to winning Virginia in the 2008 presidential election, was roundly trounced in Greater Augusta (Augusta County and the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro) by Republican nominee John McCain. McCain won the region with 62 percent of the vote, with Obama trailing far behind with 37 percent.

Ken Plum: Voter fraud at the highest levels

Ken Plum

Over the last several years there has been a proliferation of bills introduced in Virginia and in many other states to prevent voter fraud. Conspicuously missing from the debate on these bills has been any specific examples of voter fraud having been committed. In fact, the greater problem with voting has not been that persons have been fraudulently voting; voter participation in Virginia and the nation has been embarrassingly low. The emphasis needs to be on getting more people to vote and not to make the process more cumbersome and bureaucratic that it discourages voters.