The Democratic party of Virginia is preparing the battle space, just in case the statewide races are close. How? By slamming voter registrars with information requests, in some cases for data that does not yet exist. The party’s reasoning is rather novel, too. Well, not really, It’s entirely political:
In a statement, Democratic Party of Virginia spokesman Brian Coy questioned the objectivity of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II, who is the Republican candidate for governor.
“This is an election where [Attorney General] Ken Cuccinelli is both a candidate for Governor and an official whose job it is to provide legal counsel to the office that oversees the election for Governor,” Coy stated in an email. “In light of that blatant conflict of interest, the DPVA submitted requests for public information that will help ensure that every legal vote is counted accurately.
“We are working with the state board and the local registrars to obtain the information we requested in a way that is least cumbersome for election officials but ensures that all Virginians’ right to vote is protected,” Coy added.
One can debate whether the right to vote is real, or merely implied. But how, exactly, does the DPVA intend to defend voters against Ken Cuccinelli’s depredations?
Specifically, the request listed 17 areas of documents or information being sought by the Democratic Party. This included information about those asking for absentee ballots, a list of all registered voters in the county, copies of all envelopes in which absentee ballots were cast, the names of anyone who submitted voter registration applications, the paper poll books for the county, names of anyone who cast provisional ballots, copies of the instructions from the State Board of Elections pertaining to the 2013 election, and copies of any FOIA requests from any gubernatorial campaign.
The request did not specify the date of the election information sought, Mitchell noted. County officials did not know if the request covered all elections in a given period of time. Much of the information requested, if applied to the 2013 elections, does not exist.
“So the request is premature as well as not date-specific,” Mitchell said.
It sounds a lot like a fishing expedition. Or, for those even more cynical than me, a jobs program for party lawyers. But the GOP has been warned: the Democrats are looking for angles. In a contest where turnout is unlikely to break 40 percent of eligible voters, every vote cast has even greater weight. Hence, the DPVA is on the prowl for anything that looks like voter suppression.
Or so they say. The hand waving about protecting voters’ rights is tertiary to opening a new front against Ken Cuccinelli. Look for the ads and fundraising appeals speaking darkly of how Ken is lurking behind every ballot box, waiting to deny the franchise to Democratic voters.
