Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's election team conceded that it mistakenly removed nearly 3,400 legal voters from the state's roll ahead of the November 7 General Assembly elections, The Washington Post reports.
The Republican's team in a news release Friday acknowledged the removal, which it had originally estimated to be around 270 voters, according to the report. Administration officials stated that Virginia's computer software had incorrectly counted probation violations of the voters — all of whom had been previously convicted of felonies — as new charges that rendered them unable to vote. The Department of Elections said Friday that all affected voters have been notified by mail.
“As of today, all but approximately 100 of these records have been processed by general registrars. ELECT staff continues to check in with localities to ensure each record is reinstated,” the department said in a news release.
The error was first identified in September by public radio station VPM, but administrative officials were initially not concerned, according to the Post. Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine called for a probe from the Justice Department. The election bears significant weight in Youngkin's prospects for the presidency, as well as the outcome of his conservative legal plans.
“I've been calling it weaponized incompetence," said Aaron Mukerjee, an attorney working as the Democratic Party of Virginia’s voter protection director. "First, we were told there was no problem. Then we were told it was a small, contained problem. Now we’re told it is a massive problem, with numbers large enough to swing control of the General Assembly. All of this confirms Republicans cannot be trusted with Virginians basic constitutional rights.”
Secretary of Administration Lyd McDermid defended Youngkin in a letter to Mary Bauer, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, after the organization had scrutinized the voter removal.
"Governor Youngkin believes that every eligible Virginian should exercise his or her right to vote,” she wrote.
The Washington Post reported that Youngkin has asked Virginia's inspector general to look into the removals, along with "preliminary findings" that a number of people whose rights had been reinstated may have been permitted to remain on the rolls in years past, even after being dealt a felony conviction. Last year, the governor's elections department claimed it had determined that nearly 10,600 individuals on Virginia's voter rolls were disqualified from voting over felony convictions. In Virginia, a felony conviction equates to a loss of civil rights, as noted by The Associated Press, including the right to vote, serve on a jury, run for office, or carry a firearm.
Chief of Staff Jeff Goettman wrote in a letter that the administration suspects the errors “are the result of antiquated data systems and insufficient processes maintained over the last 20 plus years.”
“It is important that we resolve these issues as soon as reasonably practical as Governor Youngkin believes that every eligible Virginian should exercise his or her right to vote,” Goettman added.
