Virginia court rules state election board cannot accept late ballots without postmarks

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A County election official has won a permanent injunction against Virginia accepting late ballots with no postmark, the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) reported Monday. The case had been brought by PILF on behalf of Thomas Reed, a local electoral board member.

A consent decree issued by the Circuit Court of Frederick County on Jan. 13 provides that Virginia’s Board of Elections is permanently prohibited from accepting absentee ballots received up to three up after Election Day without postmarks in violation of Virginia law. The decree adds that late ballots with an illegible postmark, but no USPS indication of late mailing, can be accepted, PILF reported.

In a statement, PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams said: “This is a big win for the Rule of Law.”

“Existing Virginia statute (24.2-709) is clear: ‘any absentee ballot returned to the general registrar after the closing of the polls on election day but before noon on the third day after the election and postmarked on or before the date of the election shall be counted,’” PILF explained in its report.

State guidance given to local election boards on August 4, 2020 had violated Virginia law, PILF said, “particularly allowing ballots received within the Election Day plus-3 window even if they do not ‘have a postmark, or the postmark is missing or illegible.’”

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