Via 7 West, Delegate Kris Amundson (D-44) alerts us to HB 1835, of which she is chief patron. This bill makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to “knowingly communicate false information to a registered voter to impede his voting including, for example, false information concerning his precinct, polling place, or registration status.”
Last November, voters in a half-dozen localities across Virginia received telephone calls that were supposedly from the “Virginia Elections Commission.” They were told–falsely–that their voting places had changed.
I think this bill is long overdue. However, I see two issues:
- False information to impede voting happens all the time. Where is the line drawn between campaigns playing the political game and illegal activity? Let me give an example. On Election Day in November 2005, someone made a call to voters here in Norfolk in which it was said that I had dropped out of the Treasurer’s race. Is that just dirty politics or would that be illegal under this statute?
- How will the perpetrators be identified? Getting to the bottom of the source of the phone calls here in Norfolk was impossible.I seem to recall that the only reason the phone calls Del. Amundson refers to above were even taken seriously is that one of the calls was left on an answering machine. With technology today, I understand that robo calls can be programmed so as to NOT leave a message on a machine.
Cleaning up politics is something that we need to do. The fact that this bill is even needed is indicative of that. If this bill moves us in that direction, then I’m all for it.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
What about all the lies the candidates tell, so that we don’t want to vote for anyone?
Vivian, as to the first question, no it would not be covered. The bill will deal with a specific kind of misinformation: about the voter’s precinct, polling place, date and time of the election, or registration status. And as for the second, we currently would have no ability to get law enforcement involved. Is this the complete solution? No. Is it a first step? Yes.
Del. Amundson – thanks for the clarification. I agree – a god first step. Perhaps the GA can pass this and then implement some stricter legisation later.