Authorities launch statewide inquiry into illegal voting

Virginia State Police have launched a statewide investigation into possible illegal voting by felons in last November’s election.

However, state police and election officials declined to give any indication of how many possible offenders are under investigation, so the extent of the problem could not be gauged Thursday. State police said that such an investigation is not unusual.

The investigation was prompted by questions raised by the recent indictment of two people in a Louisa County voter-fraud case, said Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the State Board of Elections.

The board did research and compiled a list of people who might have voted illegally in November, then forwarded that list to state police.

State police will seek to determine whether anyone in fact voted illegally. If illegal voting appears to be the case, police will forward their findings to the appropriate commonwealth’s attorney, said state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.

Rodrigues said the State Board of Elections receives felony-conviction data from the state police and forwards it to local registrars to use when deciding who should be registered, but Rodrigues said the process isn’t perfect. It also is the voter’s responsibility to follow the law, she said.