Three Republican gubernatorial candidates excluded another candidate when they sent a joint letter to the Republican State Central Committee (SCC) urging them to reject the proposed method for counting ballots, tabulating delegate votes, and calculating the final weighted results of the May 8 convention.
Del. Kirk Cox, Sen. Amanda Chase, and Glenn Youngkin signed the letter that was addressed to the state party chairman, Rich Anderson, and the members of the SCC Rules Committee. The party’s full governing body is scheduled to vote on hiring a technology firm to handle the vote counting for the nomination process. Chase, Cox and Youngkin want the ballots to be counted by hand.
“Each of us are vying for the nomination, and while we are all competitors in that contest, we are writing to you now to express our shared resolve that all elections must be free, fair, and transparent,” the candidates said. “The Republican Party—the party of election integrity—must lead by example as it prepares to conduct its May 8 nominating convention. Unfortunately, the method currently being considered by the State Central Committee to count the ballots, tabulate the delegate votes, and calculate the final weighted results of our convention does not meet this standard.”
The candidates stressed that the electronic system would also prevent campaign observers from overseeing the process. “Utilizing software takes away oversight from campaign observers and hides the very important process of counting the ballots and tabulating the final weighted results,” Chase, Cox, and Youngkin wrote. “We cannot substitute expediency for an open and transparent process that provides confidence in the outcome.”
According to a source from within a Republican gubernatorial campaign, the fourth frontrunner for the nomination, Pete Snyder, was purposefully excluded from the letter. “This is the start of an anybody but Pete movement,” the staffer said. “This is palpable anger toward him from every campaign. They’re just lying about everything.”
Separately, Chase has been accusing Snyder of rigging the convention for weeks. She often points to the members of the SCC that are on his payroll, though as she notes, that is not actually illegal. Chase also said that she believes that the proposed electronic software before the SCC is something that the Snyder campaign is supporting.
The SCC will take up the recommendation from the Rules Committee at their next meeting.
After the letter was released Wednesday, Snyder sent out a statement in support of what the other candidates were requesting. “We love this! As we have from the beginning, we support a verifiable, independent, and accurate count that gives Republicans confidence in this process and the results,” said a spokesperson for the Snyder campaign. “We have always advocated for the measures outlined in the letter.”
Anderson was in Texas for the RNC Spring meeting Wednesday and was not immediately available for comment.
The SCC took several months to finalize a nomination process before they eventually decided on an unassembled convention with 37 different voting locations across the commonwealth, instead of one location. The ballots will also be ranked-choice, where voters rank their candidates in order of preference. That will make the process of counting votes more complicated, either way.
“We believe that you share in our commitment to free, fair, transparent, and honest elections,” Chase, Cox, and Youngkin said. “Therefore, we urge you to undertake these steps to guarantee confidence in this convention process. We want to reiterate our appreciation and respect for all you do for our party in Virginia.”
In addition to Chase, Cox, Snyder, and Youngkin — Octavia Johnson, Sergio de la Pena, and Pete Doran are also seeking the nomination.
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