The election staff of an entire county resigned from their positions in Virginia, United States in the wake of increasing voter fraud claims.
Registrar Lindsey Taylor, who was hired in 2019, loved conducting elections and had hoped to continue the job for three decades, just like the previous registrar.
Taylor loved the election staff as well as the volunteer poll workers and was proud of the detail-oriented work they did. Dozen of new laws were implemented by her in 2020 and elections were conducted by her through the pandemic, impressing the citizens living in the rural, tight-knit community of Buckingham County.
However, things took an ugly turn after the voter fraud claims started. In January, the Buckingham County Electoral Board’s control was assumed by the GOP. Buckingham County was overseeing her office and baseless voter fraud claims started being advanced by local Republicans that left her baffled.
It was made clear by the electoral board that it wanted Taylor out of her out of the job.
“There were people saying that they had heard all these rumours — that the attorney general was going to indict me,” said Taylor. “Mentally, I just — I couldn’t take it anymore,” she added.
Three weeks ago, Taylor as well as two part-time staffers resigned from their jobs. After their resignations, a deputy registrar also quit the job in February, citing a similar conflict.
The four resignations left residents without an employee at the registrar’s office. Temporarily, the people have no way to register their vote or certify the paperwork of the candidate.
“It’s just sad that the big lie has come to Buckingham. And before it was never here,” stated Margaret Thomas, who had worked as Buckingham County’s general registrar for more than 28 years before retirement.
WATCH | Mike Pence: ‘Trump was wrong, had no right to overturn election’
“A lot of election officials I’ve talked to are asking themselves: why am I doing this? Why am I getting paid like a civil servant to be constantly harassed?” stated David Becker, the Centre for Election Innovation and Research’s executive director.
“Whether it’s the intent or not, the effect is to drive a lot of these public servants — upon who we’ve relied for decades in some cases — out of the field, which will leave elections more vulnerable than they’ve been before,” he added.
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
