A judge from a state court ruled that Virginian election officials cannot count absentee ballots with missing postmarks if a barcode scan cannot confirm the date of mailing.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Frederick County Board of Elections member Tom Reed, argued that the regulation was in violation of a state election law issued in 2020 that stipulates any absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 6 will be counted. The chairman of the Winchester Republican Committee Robert Hess is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
“The existence of a postmark on or before the date of election is an explicit statutory condition precedent for the acceptance of any absentee ballot in Virginia. Defendants have no authority to issue guidance in conflict with explicit state statute on the very matter at issue,” the group wrote in their complaint (pdf).Rich Anderson, the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, called the ruling a “big win for election integrity and the rule of law in Virginia.”
“In a lawsuit brought by two of our grassroots Republicans, the Frederick County Circuit Court told the Attorney General and the State Board of Elections what we all know–the law means what it says,” Anderson added.
Meanwhile, the Public Interest Legal Foundation’s president and general counsel J. Christian Adams said in a statement: “Mr. Reed had a straightforward request: follow the law. The judge enjoined the Virginia State Board of Elections from issuing instructions to count late ballots without postmarks.”
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s office did not immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times to comment.
“Yet again, Republicans have gone to court to try and suppress the vote,” Gomer said. “Attorney General Herring has made voter protection and election integrity a top priority over the past few months and he remains dedicated to making sure that any legally cast vote in Virginia counts.”