{"id":1578176,"date":"2022-07-29T10:16:06","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T14:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1578176"},"modified":"2022-07-29T10:16:14","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T14:16:14","slug":"youngkin-era-law-forces-election-integrity-group-to-take-down-its-list-of-virginia-voter-rolls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/youngkin-era-law-forces-election-integrity-group-to-take-down-its-list-of-virginia-voter-rolls\/","title":{"rendered":"Youngkin-Era Law Forces Election Integrity Group To Take Down Its List Of Virginia Voter Rolls"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fyoungkin-era-law-forces-election-integrity-group-to-take-down-its-list-of-virginia-voter-rolls%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1578176&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An election transparency organization was forced to remove its online publication of Virginia voter rolls after the state\u2019s Department of Elections (ELECT) threatened to have the group criminally charged under a law approved earlier this year by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter obtained by The Federalist addressed to the <a href=\"https:\/\/voteref.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Voter Reference Foundation (VRF)<\/a>, an organization \u201cdedicated to ensuring transparent, accurate and fair elections,\u201d ELECT officials demand that VRF \u201cimmediately remove the Virginia voter list and any personal voter information from its website\u201d or risk being charged with a Class 5 felony for \u201cthe crime of election fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn October 2021, Voter Reference Foundation published personal voter information of Virginia voters received through a Registered Voter List and\/or a Vote History List that was not directly purchased from the Department of Elections (ELECT) by Voter Reference Foundation,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cThe publication of voter information contained on the aforementioned lists is not a permissible use of the lists pursuant to \u00a7 24.2-405 and \u00a7 24.2-406 of the Code of Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>State officials go on to claim that VRF \u201cdid not receive the aforementioned lists from ELECT\u201d as mandated under state law and that the group \u201cdid not sign the required Statement of Responsibility pursuant to \u00a7 24.2-407 of the Code of Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Approved by Youngkin on April 11, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/cgi-bin\/legp604.exe?221+sum+SB698&#038;221+sum+SB698\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently enacted amendment (SB698)<\/a> to \u00a7\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/24.2-405\">24.2-405<\/a> of the Virginia Code prohibits recipients \u201cof a list of registered voters from publishing on the Internet any of the information contained in such list as a list, database, or other similar searchable format or providing information contained in a list of registered voters to a third party for such purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As noted in <a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/cgi-bin\/legp604.exe?221+ful+CHAP0445\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previously enacted subsections<\/a> of \u00a7\u00a024.2-405, entities such as political action committees and nonprofit organizations \u201cthat promote voter participation and registration\u201d are able to purchase voter roll information from ELECT. Candidates for public office, political party committees, and \u201ccommissioners of the revenue,\u201d are also given the ability to acquire such information.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement provided to The Federalist, VRF President Doug Truax said he\u2019s \u201cpuzzled\u201d as to why Youngkin, \u201cwho said he favored election transparency,\u201d would sign legislation that makes it more difficult for Virginians to see \u201cthe election records they pay for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s on the wrong side of history here. People are demanding more transparency in their elections, not less,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Truax also added that VRF \u201cis committed to publishing the voter rolls in all 50 states\u201d and that the group \u201cwill take legal action in states that prevent publication, such as Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the 2021 Republican gubernatorial primary, Youngkin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/virginia-gop-gubernatorial-candidate-glenn-youngkin-launches-election-integrity-task-force\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pledged<\/a> to make election integrity \u201ca top priority,\u201d with the then-candidate releasing a five-point plan aimed at establishing \u201c\u2018legal voting standards\u2019 for election processes.\u201d Among the key tenets of the plan were calls to update \u201cvoter rolls monthly to provide accurate voter information,\u201d as well as to strengthen \u201cVirginia\u2019s voter identification in \u2018all methods of voting&#8217;\u201d and verify \u201c\u2018all mail-in applications and ballots\u2019 to ensure they are \u2018legitimate and timely.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not a Democrat issue or a Republican issue, it\u2019s a democracy issue,\u201d Youngkin said in February 2021. \u201cBoth parties have long raised concerns, and we must restore Americans\u2019 faith in the integrity of our elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When pressed by The Federalist on why Youngkin chose to sign the bill despite its limitations on individuals\u2019 ability to distribute state voter roll information, a representative from the governor\u2019s office said that \u201cSB698 protects election integrity by ensuring that accurate information is posted online, as opposed to outdated voter rolls, which are only accurate\u00a0the day they are pulled from the voter registration system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Virginia, voter lists are updated each and every day to account for people moving or passing away, a posted online list will quickly become inaccurate as more updates are made,\u201d the Youngkin representative said. \u201cAdditionally, this legislation addresses the concerns for sharing voters\u2019 personal identifiable information on the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In response to the Youngkin administration\u2019s statement, Traux issued a challenge to the governor \u201cto post the taxpayer-funded voter registration lists online and update them in real time so the public can see them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnless he\u2019s willing to do that, Mr. Youngkin ought to stop making phony excuses for stifling election transparency,\u201d Traux said.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Shawn Fleetwood is an intern at The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An election transparency organization was forced to remove its online publication of Virginia voter rolls after the state\u2019s Department of Elections (ELECT) threatened to have the group criminally charged under<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":1897851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1578176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_finder_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/29\/youngkin-era-law-forces-election-integrity-group-to-take-down-its-list-of-virginia-voter-rolls\/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=youngkin-era-law-forces-election-integrity-group-to-take-down-its-list-of-virginia-voter-rolls","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1578176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1897851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1578176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1578176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1578176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}