Voting Rights Watch: No charges will be filed over bogus Virginia elections flier
Virginia State Police announced today that they will not press charges against the still-unnamed person or persons responsible for a bogus flier distributed in the Hampton Roads area that falsely told Democrats they should vote the day after the election.
Communicating false information to voters is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Virginia law. However, police said they determined the flier was an "office joke" that was not intended to misinform registered voters. The Hampton Police Department and FBI were also involved in the investigation.
The fliers -- which included official state logos and appeared to come from the state Board of Elections -- began circulating Oct. 24. They said Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents should vote on Nov. 4 but Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents should cast their ballots on Nov. 5, citing a nonexistent emergency order passed by the General Assembly because of "larger than expected voter turnout."
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, had asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the fliers. In a letter to the DOJ, Conyers and fellow House members Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) wrote that the "fraudulent memo has enough of a ring of truth to confuse voters and suppress turnout."
Communicating false information to voters is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Virginia law. However, police said they determined the flier was an "office joke" that was not intended to misinform registered voters. The Hampton Police Department and FBI were also involved in the investigation.
The fliers -- which included official state logos and appeared to come from the state Board of Elections -- began circulating Oct. 24. They said Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents should vote on Nov. 4 but Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents should cast their ballots on Nov. 5, citing a nonexistent emergency order passed by the General Assembly because of "larger than expected voter turnout."
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, had asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the fliers. In a letter to the DOJ, Conyers and fellow House members Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) wrote that the "fraudulent memo has enough of a ring of truth to confuse voters and suppress turnout."
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Sue Sturgis
Sue is the editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.