Panel of judges rejects tallying of late-arriving overseas ballots

A three-judge panel overseeing the 5th Congressional District recount has rejected a request to count late-arriving absentee ballots cast by U.S. troops overseas.

The recount in the race between U.S. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., R-Rocky Mount, and Democrat Tom Perriello of Ivy was held Tuesday in each of the 5th District’s localities.

Perriello apparently won the Nov. 4 election with a margin of 745 votes. Because Perriello won by such a small margin, Goode was allowed to request a taxpayer-funded recount. The results will be presented to the judges today in Albemarle County Circuit Court.

The campaigns of both Goode and Perriello had asked the recount court to include 70 military absentee ballots, which were not mailed until Sept. 19 and were not received until after the 7 p.m. deadline on Election Day.

Both Goode and Perriello said the votes should count, even though they would not change the outcome of the election.

The panel of judges, however, denied the motion Monday.

Earlier this month, a judge in Richmond ruled that localities across Virginia violated a federal law, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, by failing to mail out 4,750 absentee ballots to active-duty military personnel by the Sept. 19 deadline. The judge, however, added that the military ballots need not be counted as they would not affect the outcome of any race.

In a statement Tuesday, Goode’s campaign criticized Perriello for only offering his “faint support” for counting the disputed ballots.

“The courageous men and women who cast these ballots have fought hard in support of our right to vote in free and fair elections,” Goode said in a statement. “If only Mr. Perriello had been as strongly for counting the ballots in the court as he had been in the press, perhaps the military votes would now be counted in this election.”

In a court filing by Perriello’s attorneys, Perriello’s campaign asked that the ballots be counted, but also noted that 61 of the late-arriving military ballots were mailed out late because the voter did not request an absentee ballot until after the Sept. 19 deadline.

“A number of questions exist about whether the commonwealth or local registrars committed any violations in mailing these ballots after Sept. 19, with the primary question being whether a UOCAVA voter actually requested a ballot before Sept. 19.

If the UOCAVA voter did not request a ballot before Sept. 19, then it obviously could not be mailed by Sept. 19 and no violation could exist.

According to information certified to the court, only nine ballots were requested by UOCAVA voters by Sept. 19 that also were not mailed to the voter until after Sept. 19,” the filing states.

Perriello’s court filing, however, still insisted that the disputed military votes be counted.

“Nonetheless,” it concluded, “to avoid any further politicization of this issue, and because Congressman-elect Perriello values the contribution and sacrifices made by members of the military, he agrees that such votes should be counted in this recount.”