DUE THE RIGHT THINGS ORGANIZATION AND OTHER VOTING RIGHTS ADVOCACY GROUPS CALL FOR EXTENSION OF VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE AND FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY BY VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS

Governor Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares Requested to Implement Extension and Report What Happened to Over 100,000 Voter Registration Applications Since June 2022

The non-profit public information organization, The Virginia Public Access Project; recently found that the number of voter registration applications have been extremely low since June 2022 and the Virginia Department of Elections discovered that over 100,000 voter registration applications processed through the Department of Motor Vehicles have been delayed. According to the Commissioner Susan Beales in a written statement, the problems caused by the non-processing of the applications were caused by IT network issues.

Had the Virginia Public Access Project’s inquiry not been investigated, over 100,000 prospective voters could have voted already but were instead impacted by these delays. The failure for the Department of Elections to clearly identify the root cause and make it public and not notify the legislative branch have diminished the integrity of the November elections.  

“We are calling on Governor Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares to extend the voter registration deadline to October 24 from October 17 to allow local voter registrars to process the over 100,000 voter registration applicants impacted. We are further asking the Governor and Attorney General to immediately respond to State Senator Lionel Spruill, Senate Privileges and Elections Committee Chairman; and his inquiry about this mishap and the need for accountability and election integrity,” said Rev. Gary McCollum, co-founder of Due the Right Things.

“Elections should be accessible, transparent, and honest. An extra week extension for registration is both practical and necessary,” said Dr. Veronica Coleman, a Virginia Beach pastor and local voting rights advocate.

Further, local voter registrars have indicated that in order to process the impacted voter applications, their offices will have to work additional hours and overtime where conditions of understaffing are prevalent.  This scenario may lead to additional errors or confusion on voting. 

“Our local voter registrars need the resources from the Commonwealth and the full commitment from the Governor to help ensure our elections are protected from fraud, human, and computer error. The Department of Elections needs to offer up a full explanation of what actually happened,” said Dr. James Allen, co-founder of Due the Right Things.

Due the Right Things is a non-profit community organization founded to promote fairness, accountability, and opportunity.

For more information, contact Rev. Gary McCollum (757) 708-5987.

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