Three prominent Virginia lawmakers are calling on the Department of Justice to investigate possible voter registration fraud connected to a Florida company and its subsidiary Pinpoint.
Congressmen Jim Moran, Bobby Scott and Gerry Connolly sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday, asking the justice department to conduct a multi-state investigation.
The request comes five days after Pinpoint contractor Colin Small, 31, was arrested and charged with 13 felony and misdemeanor counts of voter registration fraud. Sheriff's deputies in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley say Small tossed voter registration forms into a trash bin in Rockingham County.
Pinpoint was contracted by Virginia's Republican Party to register voters.
Its parent company, Strategic Allied Consulting, is under investigation in Florida for more than 200 allegations of voter registration fraud.
Moran, Scott and Connolly's letter says that, in addition to Rockingham County, Pinpoint is also apparently operating in at least five other jurisdictions in the commonwealth: Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun counties, Chesapeake City and Virginia Beach.
The lawmakers said they want the justice department to "determine if a pattern of voting registration irregularities related to Strategic Allied Consulting are connected and constitute a broader conspiracy of voter registration fraud."
Their letter continues, in part:
The number of allegations in a multitude of locations would seem to suggest something more than the isolated acts of "a few bad apples."
While the Republican National Committee and five state committees have severed their relationship with Strategic Allied Consulting, we are concerned that the alleged illegal practices may be continuing under its subsidiary Pinpoint.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said in a letter Monday that his "hands are tied" and that he could not launch an investigation into the alleged destruction of voter registration forms without a formal request from one of three sources: the State Board of Elections, a local commonwealth's attorney or a local electoral board member.
"No such request has been made to date; and therefore, by law, I do not have the authority to undertake the investigation you have suggested. My hands are tied in this matter," he wrote.
State Republican Chairman Pat Mullins told the Daily News Record that Small was fired immediately after the allegations surfaced.
In a statement on its website, Strategic Allied Consulting says it has "never tolerated even minimal violations of election law when registering voters.... Rest assured, contractors who cannot follow our rules -- or the law -- are fired immediately."
The statement continues, in part:
Recently, there have been media reports of problems with voter registration cards in the State of Florida. Strategic Allied Consulting continues to cooperate fully with county elections officials in that state – even to the point of calling to the attention of the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections 86 registration cards gathered by one vendor whose work had been deemed suspicious. We will continue to do everything within our power to uncover any unethical or illegal activity in Florida.
....Inevitably, there have been accusations of "bad registrations," isolated instances that have been thoroughly investigated not only internally but by the appropriate legal authorities.
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