My wife, Lindsay Rich, is the subject of much of your article, “Did Virginia Tech students cost two Montgomery County Republicans the election? Here’s what the math shows.” In general, I agree with your conclusions. However, I think there is room to expand upon this story and opinion piece. Why are there so many provisional ballots at Virginia Tech as compared to the remainder of the county? Why would a county such as Montgomery County have such a high turnout of provisional ballots as compared to your county, Botetourt County?
On Election Day, I volunteered to hand out Republican sample ballots to voters coming to the polls. As the day progressed, we remained cognizant of the turnout, and already knew it was going to be very close. However, by late afternoon we began to hear reports that there would be large numbers of provisional ballots at Virginia Tech. Rumor had it that someone brought a food truck to Virginia Tech, was registering individuals to vote, providing them with a Democratic sample ballot, and offering a free meal at the food truck if they would return with their “I Voted” sticker. My wife and I are huge advocates of everyone voting. The more the merrier! Everyone should have their voice heard! But something about this just felt wrong. This was our first indication that things may not go our way.
In the days following the election, I began poking around the internet to either confirm or dispel the food truck rumors and found out they are true. A group called NextGen America had taken a short-term interest in Virginia Tech. I believe their real target was to catapult Lily Franklin to victory over Chris Obenshain. Please see these posts on the social media platform X (formally called Twitter), boasting that they provided over 5,000 meals to “folks at Virginia Tech” in order to “fuel voters to the polls.”
I’m not sure how true the rumor regarding free food for the “I Voted” sticker may have been. Regardless, a quick study of NextGen America will quickly reveal their goals of championing Democratic, progressive candidates and causes.
While I agree with your statement that “the rules are the rules” I would not say that my wife is “complaining” about the rules so much as questioning, should these be the rules? Because of a change to Virginia law, beginning with the 2022 general election, individuals can register to vote as late as Election Day and still cast a provisional ballot. It is my understanding that after the election, the registrar will research the ballot to ensure the individual is both qualified and eligible to vote. Additionally, it is my understanding that prior to 2008, students could not consider their dorm room as a residence for voter registration. Prior to these changes, we did not see food trucks showing up to college campuses using tacos rather than the major issues of our time to attract votes!
I know that many will expect that I am advocating to make it more difficult to vote. That’s not my point. I truly do want everyone’s voice to be heard. But at the same time, I do question whether students who live on campus, most of whom come from outside Montgomery County, don’t know anything about or care anything for the local candidates and issues, should have such a major impact on local elections. How do local candidates compete with national organizations like NextGen America? How can a local candidate with limited campaign funds afford competing food trucks to feed thousands of students? With 30,000-plus students on Virginia Tech campus, how do the local candidates meet and influence the 1,000-plus students who will vote and significantly influence the local elections? While flipping the Virginia House into Democratic hands may have been the goal, local candidates were the collateral damage! Local Montgomery County elections have been forever changed and the districts who share Virginia Tech will likely be controlled by the voting direction of the Virginia Tech student population.
