Third-party voter-registration drives being investigated

The Virginia State Board of Elections said Friday it is investigating complaints that some voters may not have been able to cast ballots because their voter registrations were never submitted by third parties.

The board asks any body who registered through a third-party but could not vote because they were not registered in time to send a copy of the registration receipt to the board's Richmond headquarters.

"Right now, it's just complaints," said Susan Pollard, a board spokeswoman.

"We are very much in the early stages."

The headquarters is located at 200 N. 9th Street, Richmond, Va. 23219-3485.

Voters who send a copy of their registration receipts should keep the original for personal records, the board said in a news release.

"That receipt is crucial," Pollard said. "It's the best tracking device we have."

There have been voter registration complaints in Hampton Roads.

In July, elections and law enforcement officials said they were investigating a number of potentially fraudulent voter registrations.

Three people authorities say were registering voters for a nonprofit group, Community Voters Project, were charged by police with voter fraud in Hampton.

In October, a Norfolk woman, who also worked for Community Voters Project, was indicted on three counts of felony election fraud.

She was accused of turning in voter registration applications that contained false information to the Norfolk voter registrar's office.

Lauren King, (757) 446-2309, lauren.king@pilotonline.com