Authorities Arrest GOP Contractor For Throwing Away Voter Registration Forms
Several days after a man was spotted in Harrisonburg, Virginia, allegedly discarding several completed voter registration forms in a private home accessory store dumpster, deputies in Rockingham County arrested a 31-year-old Pennsylvania resident affiliated with the Republican Party of Virginia and charged him with multiple felonies in connection with the incident.
Colin Small is reportedly employed by Pinpoint, a firm hired by the Virginia GOP to register voters. He was charged with four counts of destroying voter registration forms, eight counts of failure to disclose voter registration forms, and one count of obstruction of justice.
More charges could be forthcoming.
In a statement, the Rockingham County Sheriff's office said there was "no indication that this activity was widespread in our jurisdiction," and the fraud "appears to be very limited in nature."
Pat Mullins, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, released his own statement calling the allegations "alarming" and noting that Small was "fired immediately" upon their discovery.
"The actions taken by this individual are a direct contradiction of both his training and explicit instructions given to him," Mullins said. "The Republican Party of Virginia will not tolerate any action by any person that could threaten the integrity of our electoral process."
It remains unclear why these particular forms were trashed, but one of the voters, an unidentified 18-year-old, told NBC 29 they would have been disappointed had they not been allowed to vote.
"Your first election ever, to go in to vote for the first time, and be told you can't do it," the teen said. "So whoever did this, it was pretty despicable."