Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
UPDATE 1:45 p.m. (WMAL) – The dispute over absentee ballots in Stafford County will not end Monday. The Stafford Electoral Board voted to seek legal counsel on whether 55 absentee ballots can be counted.
The board also voted to give voters who cast provisional ballots until Tuesday to defend them. Reasons why voters need to cast provisional ballots in Virginia include not bringing an ID to the polls, voting in the wrong precinct, or not being registered.
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – A dispute continued Monday over absentee ballots in Stafford County. The Virginia Democratic Party alleges ballots cast by 55 active military members are not being counted because the registrar’s office did not pick them up in time. Registrar Greg Riddlemoser said that’s a lie.
“We find that to be absolutely ridiculous. It is not the soldiers, or service members fault, that their ballot was not picked up by the registrar on election day,” said the Director of Virginia House Democrats Trent Armitage in a conference call Friday.
Stafford County registrar Greg Riddlemoser said the votes can’t be counted because they were post-marked after Tuesday’s deadline.
“They were not military ballots. I’m a veteran. I’m offended by that. It’s just a flat out lie,” Riddlemoser told WMAL.
The board of elections is meeting Monday afternoon to decide whether to count the ballots.
The Virginia Democratic Party told WMAL they are reserving comments until after the vote.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: CNN)
