Glenn Youngkin’s underage son was turned away from a voting precinct on Election Day, top county election official says
Elections officers have been “made conscious” on Friday morning of “considerations {that a} 17 yo male tried on two events to vote on election day,” Scott O. Konopasek, the Fairfax County Normal Registrar, mentioned in a press release.
“The younger man offered identification however was ineligible to be registered resulting from his age and was not permitted to vote,” Konopasek added.
Youngkin’s son didn’t vote and “made no false statements” or “disrupt voting,” Konopasek mentioned. He was “given a registration type and inspired to register for future elections,” the election official added.
“Primarily based upon info accessible to me now, it seems that he dedicated no election offense as outlined in Chapter 10 of the Elections Code,” Konopasek concluded. The assertion named Youngkin’s son, however CNN selected to not establish him as a result of he’s a minor and was discovered to not have dedicated against the law.
Youngkin, a Republican, defeated former Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday evening, delivering a major blow to Democrats, and signaling that the Republican Social gathering heads into the 2022 midterms in a powerful place.
The incident was reported in notes from Jennifer Canty, who was recognized because the chief of the precinct on the Nice Falls Library in Nice Falls, Virginia.
Canty wrote in her notes that at 9:30 a.m. on Election Day, a “17 yo voter got here in requested poll” however was “advised he needed to be 18 yo to vote at this time.” Canty writes that she supplied him a voter registration however “he declined.”
Canty goes on to put in writing that the “identical 17 yo voter… got here again to request a poll” round 10:00 a.m. It was right here that Canty writes down Youngkin’s title. “Once more supplied alternative to register. He declined if he would not be capable to vote at this time,” she wrote.
Canty has up to now not responded to CNN’s requests for remark.
Devin O’Malley, a spokesman for the Youngkin marketing campaign, mentioned of the incident, “It is unlucky that whereas Glenn makes an attempt to unite the Commonwealth round his constructive message of higher colleges, safer streets, a decrease price of residing, and extra jobs, his political opponents—mad that they suffered historic losses this 12 months—are pitching opposition analysis on a 17-year previous child who truthfully misunderstood Virginia election regulation and easily requested polling officers if he was eligible to vote; when knowledgeable he was not, he went to high school.”
The incident comes at a time when Republicans throughout the nation, spurred by former President Donald Trump, have made baseless claims about fraudulent voting and stolen elections.
Youngkin made “election integrity” the centerpiece of his marketing campaign when he launched in his race in February. As soon as he received the nomination, he tried to stroll a high-quality line on the difficulty, calling for an audit on the voting machines that have been utilized in President Joe Biden’s 10-percentage-point defeat of Trump, whereas additionally acknowledging that Biden’s win was legit.
“I believe we have to guarantee that folks belief these voting machines,” he mentioned in October. “So, let’s simply audit the voting machines, publish it so everyone can see it,” he mentioned, ignoring that the State Board of Elections had already run an audit of the election and printed the outcomes.
This story has been up to date with extra reporting.
