Andrew Spieles, a James Madison University student working for HarrisonburgVotes, confessed earlier this month that he submitted 19 applications for deceased individuals, according to a report in the local Daily News-Record.
The 19 applications were submitted through HarrisonburgVotes, which is run by Joe Fitzgerald, a prominent local Democrat. Fitzgerald is chairman of his congressional district’s Democratic Committee.
William Howell, the Republican speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, told the Post that this is proof that voter fraud is a serious problem.
“Oftentimes we hear our Democratic colleagues suggest that voter fraud doesn’t exist in Virginia, or it’s a myth,” said Howell. “This is proof that voter fraud not only exists but is ongoing and is a threat to the integrity of our elections.”
Howell’s Democratic counterpart in the House said that since nobody cast a vote, “there was no voter fraud.”
“First of all, there was no voter fraud—they caught him,” said House Minority Leader David Toscana. “Nobody cast a vote. There’s still no evidence of that going on in the state. But there is evidence every time you turn around that the Republicans are trying to make it more difficult for citizens to vote in elections.”