The issue of voter fraud resurfaced last week when Rockingham County resident Colin Small was arrested for attempting to dispose of completed voter registration forms.
Small, a voter registration supervisor, worked for an independent private organization that the Republican Party of Virginia contracted to conduct voter registration.
“The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office… made an arrest in the investigation of voter registration fraud that began on the afternoon of Oct. 15th when law enforcement received a citizen complaint of voter registration application forms being found in a dumpster behind a business in the City of Harrisonburg,” according to a statement from the Sheriff’s office.
Pat Mullins, Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia said he was alarmed by Small’s actions.
“The actions taken by this individual are a direct contradiction of both his training and explicit instructions given to him,” Mullins said in a statement. “The Republican Party of Virginia will not tolerate any action by any person that could threaten the integrity of our electoral process.”
The Republican Party of Virginia fired Small after learning of his alleged actions, Mullins said.
Cases involving voter fraud are rare, however, according to Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta.
“We have never had any known cases of voter registration fraud in the past,” Iachetta said.
The U.S. District Attorney’s Office is responsible for ensuring election fraud does not take place and last week designated Principal Assistant United States Attorney Sharon Burnham to oversee complaints about voting rights abuses.
As for Small, he now faces 13 felony and misdemeanor counts related to voter fraud.
UPDATE
At a special meeting on October 24, the Virginia State Board of Elections unanimously asked Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to investigate the issue.
“In performing our duties in this matter, we look forward to working with local authorities and the state police to root out any and all violations of law that may have occurred,” Cuccinelli said in a statement released on October 24.
Cuccinelli said he was not able to investigate the issues in Rockingham County until the Board of Election’s vote.
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