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RICHMOND, VA - On Tuesday,
October 28 the Virginia State Board of Elections reviewed and voted
unanimously to accept the official advisory opinion of the Office of Attorney
General regarding Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots (FWAB).
Last week the
State Board of Elections was alerted to a possible conflict between state and
federal law leading to the denial of approximately 100 FWABs. The Code of
Virginia has stated since 2002 that all FWABs serving simultaneously as an
absentee ballot application and an absentee ballot require both a witness’
signature and an address in order to be counted in the General Election.
General Registrars correctly applied state law by denying these FWABs.
Out of concern that these votes from the military and
overseas could not be counted under state law, the State Board of Elections and
Delegate Bill Janis requested the Office of the Attorney General to conduct a
detailed review of a conflict between state and federal law. The Office of
the Attorney General released an opinion Monday night stating “that the
provision of § 24.2-702.1(B) interpreted to require an overseas military
voter submitting a FWAB to include the printed name and address of the person
who signs the witness statement is preempted by the Uniformed and Overseas
Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).”
“I am pleased
that we are able to count these votes, but also am pleased that our
registrars followed the law,” said Jean Cunningham, Chair of the State Board
of Elections. “Thank you to the Office of Attorney General for their
extensive research, because of their review it allows SBE to count these
votes under federal law.”
For more
information go to the State Board of Elections web site at www.sbe.virginia.gov.
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