Elections

A three-judge panel has set the rules for next week’s statewide recount of the Attorney General’s election between Democrat Mark Herring and Republican Mark Obenshain.  With a historically narrow 165-vote margin separating the two men, the details were strategically important to the candidates’ lawyers-who spent hours on Monday arguing their positions at a Richmond hearing.  The recount will include examination of thousands of undervoted ballots-to determine if no votes were cast for that office or if the machines did not read them the first time.

Some members of the State Board of Elections have again raised the issue of potential vote-counting irregularities in Fairfax County, but this time a major focus was on which provisional ballots should have been counted. 

While the entire Fairfax Electoral Board was unable to attend today’s state meeting to explain, one member traveled to Richmond to begin a discussion about what happened. 

The Supreme Court is now weighing a case that could put an end to limits on individual campaign contributions. 

Backers of the idea argue that as long as the donation is disclosed, the risk of corruption is minimal, but another view has emerged from the University of Virginia Law School.

By law, individuals can give no more than $48,600 per election cycle to federal candidates, but businessman Shawn McKutcheon objects.  He says it’s his First Amendment right to give as much as he wants to as many candidates as he likes. 

Republican State Senator Mark Obenshain is turning to a special court that includes the chief Richmond Circuit Court judge … to aid him in a ballot recount of the closest statewide race in modern Virginia history. Although his Democratic opponent, Mark Herring, has been certified the winner in the Attorney General's election by a 165-vote margin, Obenshain and his team believe there's a chance that votes were missed or might be invalidated.

With the election of Ralph Northam to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor, his state senate seat will open, and there will be a special election to replace him.  It’s a vote that could have statewide implications.