RICHMOND, Va. -- The Democratic Party of Virginia is calling for Richmond Registrar Kirk Showalter to resign from her job citing events that occurred before, during, and after the 2020 election.
In a letter to the Richmond Electoral Board, Democratic Party of Virginia chair Susan Swecker and Richmond Democratic Committee chair Jamie Nolan outlined multiple reasons for their call to action.
Those reasons include:
- Failure to comply with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA requests) from the Democratic Party of Virginia
- Providing false information to the Democratic Party of Virginia in response to Freedom of Information Act requests
- Admission the office was not contacting voters within three days of noticing "a material omission" on their absentee ballot envelope
- Mishandling of a COVID-19 outbreak within the office
- Changing vote counts in the 2nd and 8th district races with little explanation
"Now that the 2020 election results have finally been certified, attached you will find our concerns about the administration of elections in the City of Richmond," Swecker wrote to Richmond Electoral Board members. "I know you all share the same goal as we do: to ensure that Richmonders can safely and easily make their voices heard at the ballot box. Unfortunately, due to consistent failures in the Registrar's Office this was not always the case in Richmond. We hope you will take the recommended actions to ensure this never happens again."
Showalter said she is not planning to resign.
"This is the first I'm learning of this, however I'm confident that whatever the allegations are will be examined. It will be shown the election was managed well under difficult circumstances and that we did all in our power to comply with all the last-minute changes and additional requirements imposed by the General Assembly. I find the timing of this action interesting being taken at a point where my ability to respond is hindered by the temporary [office] closure and the fact that I'm recovering from COVID-19 myself."
James Nachman, the Richmond Board of Elections Chairman, said he had not read the letter as of Thursday morning and said it would be premature to comment before the board met to discuss the complaints.
This is a developing story.
