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Another election race could be impacted substantially by mail-in ballots.
Virginia’s Democrat Party has officially sued the Post Office in Richmond’s Federal District Court, alleging that the handling of absentee ballots may deprive thousands of their right to vote.
Ironically enough, Democrats are arguing that it could have an impact on the outcome of Tuesday’s extremely tight race to elect Virginia’s next Governor.
Democrats appear to be laying the groundwork for potential legal recourse to dispute a Republican win.
After spending months slamming Donald Trump and Republicans for raising concerns about mail-in ballots, Democrats allege that up to 300,000 mail-in ballots may be impacted by a slow-down in mail handling.
“Currently, based on data from the Virginia Department of Elections, 28 percent of requested absentee ballots statewide have remained outstanding with the Post Office for more than three weeks after the date they were requested and delivered to the Postal Service by general registrars for delivery,” wrote party lawyers.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs allege there are thousands of ballots sitting unscanned in Post Offices in those three counties.
“These unscanned ballots constituted more than a quarter — and, in the case of Albermarle, nearly half — of all ballots that voters in those jurisdictions had requested, and that the County Registrars had delivered to the postal facilities,” said plaintiff attorney Jeffrey Breit.
Post Office officials released a statement saying no such delays have occurred and agreed to provide daily election mail reports to all concerned parties.
“The Postal Service has a robust and tested process for the proper handling and timely delivery of Election Mail. Our Election Mail processes and procedures are fully operational in Virginia,” Post Office public relations representative Martha Johnson said in an email.
“We are not aware of any processing delays of any ballots within our facilities nor any ballot delivery delays, and we have fully communicated this information to election officials,” Johnson continued. “Throughout the election cycle, we work closely with state and local election officials and have been addressing any concerns that they raise. Daily sweeps are being conducted in all our Virginia facilities.”
Virginia absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted.
The highly anticipated Virginia gubernatorial race — which is between Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe and Republican Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin — is on November 2.
All mailed ballots had to of been received by the general registrar’s office by noon of last Friday.
Virginia will elect a new governor next week – and Republicans appear to be in a strong position to flip the state Red.
McAuliffe, the former governor of the state, is behind significantly in a brand new Fox News poll.
No Republican has won a statewide race in Virginia since 2009 and Joe Biden won the state in the 2020 presidential election.
Despite Biden campaigning for McAuliffe and Democrats, Youngkin has burst ahead in a recent poll just five days before the election.
Youngkin is polling at 53 percent among likely voters, to McAuliffe’s 45 percent.
Democratic pollster Chris Anderson is sounding the alarm.
“With the race essentially tied among the full registered voter universe, McAuliffe could still pull this off,” says Anderson, who conducts the Fox News survey along with Republican Daron Shaw. “But it would take something big to ignite enthusiasm for McAuliffe’s candidacy and a massively effective get out the vote effort.”