More on Student Double Voting:

In response to my earlier post on double voting, I was forwarded a copy of the following press release of efforts to police efforts by college students to double vote in Virginia. For those who are interested, I’ve put the bulk of the release under hidden text.

It’ll be interesting to see if anything is done about this. It appears that it is pretty easy both to double vote but also to bust someone who double votes–if election officials decide to do anything about it.

HAMPTON — Michael Wade, Chairman of the Third Congressional District
Republican Committee, has begun delivering to general registrars and
local electoral boards across Virginia the names and identifying
information of hundreds of college students who are suspected of
intending to vote twice in the upcoming presidential election: once in
person in Virginia, and once by absentee ballot in a State of prior
registration.

Specifically, each of the students on Wade’s list is newly registered
to vote in Virginia this year. But each also has requested — and
received — an absentee ballot from the State in which they previously
were registered to vote. In many cases, the student’s registration in
Virginia and request for an absentee ballot from another State were
mere days apart.

(show)

“In a State which just three years ago had a statewide election
decided by 367 votes out of over two million cast, this is an
extremely troubling revelation,” said Wade. Wade’s request to general
registrars and local electoral boards in Richmond, Montgomery County,
Charlottesville, Fairfax County, Norfolk, and other localities with
large student populations, calls for the listed students to be
challenged if they present themselves to vote in Virginia on Election
Day.

Va. Code 24.2-651 requires that election officials “shall challenge
the vote of any person who is listed on the pollbook but is known or
suspected not to be a qualified voter” on account of having
“previously voted in this election.” Section 24.2-651 still would
permit the challenged students to vote in Virginia, but only after
signing an affidavit, subject to felony penalties for making false
statements, that they have not previously voted in this election, and
that they will not vote in this election at any other voting place.
“After the election,” Wade explained, “we are going to compare voting
records from the two States, and we absolutely will turn over to the
State Police the names and addresses of any students who voted twice
— once in Virginia and once elsewhere.”

Wade is transmitting his request, along with the names of suspected
double voters, by e-mail to the election officials in the areas in
question. Out of concern for the privacy rights and presumed innocence
of the individual students, however, Wade will not be releasing the
list of names to the public.

“Students who have not previously voted in the election have nothing
to fear, even if they have requested and received an absentee ballot
from another State, as long as they have not and will not cast it,”
Wade stated. “Only those students who are intending to commit vote
fraud by casting two votes in this election should worry,” Wade
concluded. “And those students should know that we are onto them, and
if they cast two ballots, we will find out about it and we will seek
to have them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Here is the text of Wade’s e-mail to the general registrars and local
electoral boards:

To:

From: Mike Wade, Third Congressional District Republican Chairman

Date: November 3, 2008

Subject: CONFIDENTIAL: Double-Voting by College Students

Dear General Registrar and Local Electoral Board Members:

The attached list contains the names and registered addresses of
college students in your locality who should be suspected of having
voted previously in the upcoming November 4, 2008 General Election.
Specifically, each of the students on this list recently registered to
vote in Virginia, but each also has requested and received an absentee
ballot for the November 4 election from his or her State of prior
registration. The list also includes each student’s prior State, the
date on which the student requested an absentee ballot from the prior
State, and the date on which he/she registered to vote in Virginia.

I am providing you with this information so that the officers of
election in your locality can discharge their statutory duty, pursuant
to Va. Code 24.2-651, to “challenge the vote of any person who is
listed on the pollbook but is known or suspected not to be a qualified
voter” on account of having “previously voted in this election.”
Pursuant to Section 24.2-651, prior to voting in Virginia, the
students on this list should be required to sign an affidavit, subject
to felony penalties for making false statements, that they have not
previously voted in this election, and that they will not vote in this
election at any other voting place.

Two of the past statewide elections in Virginia have been decided by
less than one percent of the total statewide vote, including one by
just 367 votes out of over two million cast. Experts are forecasting
the possibility of a similarly close election in Virginia this year. I
trust you share my commitment to fair and honest elections, and to the
bedrock principle of one man, one vote. Please guard against the
dilution of my and others’ votes by marking your pollbooks, providing
this information to your officers of election, and instructing them to
challenge the qualification of these students if they do in fact
present themselves to vote in Virginia tomorrow.

If you have any questions about how I compiled this information, or
need any additional information, please contact me as soon as
possible.

Thank you for your immediate attention and response to this vitally
important issue.

Michael Wade

(757) 880-9195