A rumor was circulating Monday that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lee Carter made an error on the forms for voters to sign the petition in order for him to be on the June 8 primary ballot. That turned out to not be true at all.
The rumor was that Carter used a P.O. Box address instead of his own address on the signature petition form, which is not typically allowed. The form in question is the one used to collect the 2,000 required signatures to be on the gubernatorial ballot. But due to past threats of assassination, Carter is registered as a protected voter with the Department of Elections keeping his address private.
A spokesperson for the Carter campaign says they have already received an email from the Democratic Party of Virginia notifying them that he will be on the ballot. They also said an official from the state party reached out early in the signature-collection process to inquire about the P.O. Box and after being provided with an explanation, the party never said anything else about it.
Multiple sources reported hearing the rumor to Virginia Scope Monday night and Carter says that he believes it was a political move by one of his primary opponents in the gubernatorial race. “Whichever campaign it is should be embarrassed,” Carter said in an interview. “I’m a protected voter because of a protective order against someone who was making assassination threats. If another candidate is so desperate that they’re willing to say protected voters – people who are at risk of assassination and survivors of domestic violence – can’t run for office without publishing their address, that’s a disgusting position.”
A spokesperson for Terry McAuliffe denied having any knowledge of this happening prior to being contacted by Virginia Scope. A spokesperson for Jennifer McClellan also denied having any knowledge of the situation prior to being contacted.
The campaign for Jennifer Carroll Foy provided the following statement through a spokesperson; “Having faced credible threats of violence herself, Jennifer firmly believes that such threats against any candidate or campaign are deeply disturbing and should have no place in our politics.”
The campaign for Justin Fairfax did not respond to any requests for comment.
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