In a series of eight articles beginning on July 18 (with the most recent posted on August 11), former U.S. Justice Department attorney and blogger Christian Adams raised a number of allegations about “chaos, discrimination, thuggery, and dishonesty at Virginia State Board of Elections” as well as “corruption and mismanagement.”
Partly in reaction to Adams’ revelations but also based upon independent knowledge and complaints, the Voter Registrars Association of Virginia (VRAV) passed a resolution critical of the SBE at its annual meeting on August 5, asserting that “the actions of the current Secretary of the Virginia State Board of Elections have called into question her priorities in executing” her duties.
‘Degradation of the agency’
The resolution called on the Governor and the leadership of the Virginia General Assembly to “inquire into the ongoing operation of the agency with particular attention to the actions of the Secretary, and take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the efficient and effective operation of the agency, the fair state administration of election laws, and call a halt to the degradation of the agency’s ability to function in a principled manner so it may continue its support of high-caliber elections in Virginia.”
The resolution was not part of VRAV’s previously announced agenda and was, in fact, introduced from the floor for consideration before being approved by the body unanimously.
On August 17, the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner conducted a one-on-one interview with Lawrence C. Haake, general registrar in Chesterfield County and president of VRAV, about the resolution and what led up to its passage.
‘Misrepresentations’
“We based” the resolution, he said, “on our previous complaints we had made about repeated misrepresentations or lying from the Secretary about adverse personnel actions, particularly senior personnel either being laid off, terminated, or taking early retirement, the dissolving of divisions, the failure to replace key personnel in key positions of SBE, and our concern that, as we move into the future, they will be unable to do the things we need them to do to support us in the field.”
While the complaints had been passed along to Governor McDonnell’s chief of staff and to the Secretary of Administration, the responses VRAV received were inadequate, said Haake.
“It appears to us that [the questions and complaints] were sent to the State Board of Elections, [who] drafted answers, and they were given to us accepted on face value because” – it appeared – “there are even misrepresentations in the answers, so it doesn’t look like any investigation whatsoever was done.”
‘Ultimately a major crisis’
VRAV members believe, said Haake, “that the governor’s administration is supporting the actions of what’s going on at the State Board of Elections, much to our chagrin, and that we just see that ultimately there will be a major crisis” at the agency “because there will be inexperienced people and an insufficient number of people to handle what will happen in 2012,” the next presidential election year.
It may not have been a coincidence, given the back-and-forth communications about allegations of mismanagement, that SBE Secretary Nancy Rodrigues brought Secretary of Administration Lisa Hicks-Thomas with her to the annual training on August 16 to give welcoming remarks to the 400 or so election officials in attendance, even though Hicks-Thomas was not on the schedule of speakers distributed beforehand.
Asked whether the reports on Christian Adams’ blog, Election Law Center, were accurate, Haake replied:
“I have seen that blog and everything I have read there has been consistent with what I have been told or what I know personally. For example, he quoted from our letter to the Governor, which I knew to be accurate.”
Campaign Finance Problems
One problem that may develop at the SBE will result from the apparent dissolution of the campaign finance division. As Haake explained:
“We learned just prior to our meeting,” he said, and after several months of vacancy in the manager’s position in the campaign finance office “that the division had been dissolved and those employees reallocated to other operations, although apparently keeping their duties."
These personnel reassignments could have an impact on candidates, political committees, and journalists who need fast and accurate information about campaign finance matters.
These people, Haake said, “can get the answers but there’s no single point of contact. They would have to call in and someone would have to know, ‘well, you need to talk to this one’ or ‘you need to talk to that one.’ They can’t go, ‘ok, here’s campaign finance division’ and they can screen your [question] and one of them will handle it. They may have to go through several people.”
‘The problem is ours’
While staff shuffles and cutbacks at a small state agency may not seem to portend a major impact on Virginia citizens, Haake fears the repercussions to come.
“The problem is ours to a certain extent because,” he said, “if what we fear comes to pass, we will not be able to provide the services to the voters, so the voters are at the bottom line of this chain. They’re the ones that ultimately will suffer.”
The issue is customer service for the voters, he explained.
“We’re less concerned about personalities at SBE or the organization or the operation except as it affects our electoral system. And that’s what we fear, that these actions are going to adversely affect the electoral system.”
Haake believes that the situation makes it more imperative than ever for Virginia to hire a professional elections director instead of having a politically-appointed state board secretary in charge of elections.
“That’s very close to my heart,” Haake said, echoing what Goochland County Electoral Board Secretary Robin Lind previously reported.
“That was passed one time and it was vetoed by Governor Kaine. It was tried again last year. It was defeated. I hope it comes back.”
A professional elections director will have “a greater understanding of our concerns” as election officials and service providers to voters, Haake concluded.
NOTE: Richard Sincere has been a member of the Electoral Board for the City of Charlottesville since March 2004, currently serving as chairman.
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