VA05 Dem Candidate Josh Throneburg Denounces Voter Intimidation Tactics At Early Voting Locations

From the Josh Throneburg for VA05 campaign:

Charlottesville – Josh Throneburg, Democratic Congressional nominee for Virginia’s Fifth District, has released the following statement on reports of voter intimidation and harassment at early voting locations across Virginia:

“We have received a number of concerning reports about inappropriate behavior from Republican poll observers at early voting locations and incidents of prohibited electioneering outside of polling places. These include:

• An incident in Bedford County where a campaign worker for a Republican candidate approached voters within the 40-foot restricted area, saying that he wanted to pray with them before they voted.
• A Republican election observer in Fluvanna County who stopped voters inside the early voting location and asked them for their name, address and party ID, despite the regulations prohibiting election observers from interfering with or impeding voters on their way to cast a ballot.

It is against Virginia state law to harass, intimidate or impede voters on their way to cast a ballot.  I condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms, and I encourage the Republican party to remember that their election observers and volunteers have an obligation to follow Virginia law and further, that the party is required to provide appropriate training to its observers. Our campaign and the county Democratic parties have reached out to the relevant registrars’ offices and the Board of Elections about these prohibited behaviors; we will continue to report incidents as we learn about them and will follow up to make sure they are not repeated.

We are also paying close attention to multiple incidents of inaccurate voting information being sent to Fifth District voters by the Virginia Department of Elections. Specifically, Albemarle County voters received an official notice listing an incorrect address for the Albemarle early voting location, and Charlottesville voters received a notice from the local registrar that gave a PO Box rather than the physical address of the Charlottesville early voting location. While steps are being taken to provide voters with the correct information, our campaign is concerned about the potential for voter confusion, particularly given the fact that this is the first election post-redistricting and some voters’ polling locations have been legitimately changed.

We encourage any voter who has received incorrect information about their voting location to reach out to our campaign. Our website contains correct early voting information for every locality in the Fifth District (https://joshforvirginia.com/early-voting-information/)  We also encourage any voter who has encountered unusual behavior at an early voting location to reach out to the Democratic Party’s voter protection hotline at 844-482-8683.”