A federal judge in Lynchburg heard arguments Monday on what’s needed to cast an absentee ballot. The law does not require a witness for people voting by mail, but the board of elections says that is necessary.
State law requires a witness to absentee voting if someone wants to protect against a possible challenge, but that’s not what the state told local officials.
“The state board of elections adopted a regulation that said that if you get one of these ballots returned without a signature that the local registrars are supposed to throw them out,” says Claire Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia.
The problem, she adds, is that during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not so easy for some people to find a witness.
“We’ve already heard from voters who returned their ballots without witness signatures, because they live alone, and they don’t want to invite somebody into their home or even into their close personal space.”
So the ACLU is challenging the demand for a witness on behalf of three voters and the League of Women Voters – hoping for a favorable ruling before local elections on May 19th.
The Republican Party of Virginia plans to argue that without a witness, people who are not legally allowed to vote could do so and threaten the integrity of this state’s primary elections in June.
One day after we reported this story, a federal judge in Lynchburg ruled in favor of the League of Women Voters, saying those casting absentee ballots in the June primary need not secure a witness for their vote to count.
