Introduced by Senator Bryce Reeves, the bill seeks to prevent problems such as occurred in Spotsylvania County this summer and fall.
by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
The state Senate on Monday unanimously passed a bill introduced by Sen. Bryce Reeves that clarifies the date from which valid signatures can be collected for persons seeking to run for elected office.
Senate Bill 165 would amend the Code of Virginia to state that signatures may be collected for the Petition of Qualified Voters “on and after January 1” of the year in which the election is held.
Reeves, who represents the 28th Senate District which includes part of Spotsylvania County, introduced his bill before the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee last week by saying that it was inspired by “an incident in my district.”
The “incident” refers to the Petitions of Qualified Voters submitted in June of last year by Nick Ignacio, a candidate for Clerk of Circuit Court in Spotsylvania, and Steve Maxwell, a candidate for Spotsylvania Sheriff.
In July, the Advance reported that at least 16 of the 128 signatures Ignacio collected, and 37 of the 144 that Maxwell collected, were dated January 1.
State Code—without Reeve’s proposed amendment—states that signatures are only valid if they are collected after January 1.
In August, Christalyn Jett and Sheriff Roger Harris—respectively, the incumbents for the offices of Clerk of Circuit Court and Sheriff—wrote a letter to the county’s Electoral Board, asking that Ignacio and Maxwell be disqualified due to the fact that some signatures were collected before the start date.
In September, Electoral Board Chair Dustin Curtis passed the issue along to Miyares.
Miyares did not weigh in until January of this year, after both Maxwell and Ignacio lost their respective races in the November 2023 election.
In his ruling, Miyares found that the signatures collected on January 1, 2023 “do not count towards the minimum number of signatures required to be collected by independent candidates seeking to have their name printed on the ballot.”
Without those signatures, neither Maxwell nor Ignacio would have had enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The Privileges and Elections committee unanimously reported Reeve’s bill to the full Senate, which voted today. The House of Delegates must pass a similar version of the bill before it goes into effect.
Meanwhile, Maxwell has filed a case in Spotsylvania Circuit Court against Harris, seeking to have the results of the election overturned.
The case will be heard on February 15. According to online case information, Maxwell is representing himself, while Harris will be represented by Richmond-based attorney William Tunner.
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Ahhh-modern Repulbicanism.
If you break the law, rather than change your behavior – change the law….
Meanwhile, our brave Republican Attorney General, who can create hotlines to snitch on teachers that the Soviet Union would admire for it’s totalitarianism, and a whole division of lawyers to find non-existence voter fraud at cost to taxpayers – could not bring himself to issue an opinion on whether the action WAS illegal until well after the election.
Lot of good that it did then.
Any bets on if he would have waited so long if the action had been committed by a Democrat?
If so, please call 888-532-3500 as soon as possible.
Hate to say it, but you likely have a gambling problem, among others. And Governor Youngkin’s Virginia Lottery wants to help.
Ahhh-modern Repulbicanism.
If you break the law, rather than change your behavior – change the law….
Meanwhile, our brave Republican Attorney General, who can create hotlines to snitch on teachers that the Soviet Union would admire for it’s totalitarianism, and a whole division of lawyers to find non-existence voter fraud at cost to taxpayers – could not bring himself to issue an opinion on whether the action WAS illegal until well after the election.
Lot of good that it did then.
Any bets on if he would have waited so long if the action had been committed by a Democrat?
If so, please call 888-532-3500 as soon as possible.
Hate to say it, but you likely have a gambling problem, among others. And Governor Youngkin’s Virginia Lottery wants to help.