Election Law Center has received 53,345 unique hits on our coverage of the mess at the Virginia State Board of Elections alone. Obviously it is a story many care about. It is a story people from around the Commonwealth are paying close attention to, even if their counterparts in the dying dead trees media are ignoring it. (Including the Richmond Times and Virginia Pilot).
The story isn’t going to go away either. We have obtained documents, internal emails, which show a variety of questionable activities by certain SBE employees during the 2008 Presidential election. In general, these documents call into question the neutrality of certain employees during that election as it affected SBE policy. They create a reasonable inference that the Virginia SBE was taking steps to aid a particular national campaign. We have the actual internal emails and will post them in the future.
Partisanship isn’t the only lingering issue at the Virginia SBE. More stories are to come regarding contract irregularities and a variety of other management issues involving waste, fraud and abuse. Thanks to all of the present and former employees at the Virginia State Board of Elections who have provided internal documents, memos, budgets, RFP’s and most of all, firsthand accounts of the unresolved mess that is the Virginia SBE to Election Law Center.com.
We also have documents demonstrating the hostility of the Virginia SBE to the rights of our men and women serving overseas, our military voters. Simply put, the Virginia SBE under Nancy Rodrigues took disgraceful legal positions in cases other than the disgraceful position it took in McCain v. Cunningham. These disgraceful legal positions sought to and would have the effect of tossing out the votes of soldiers serving overseas. Given that so many Virginians put their lives on the line for us all, they have the right to expect more from the Virginia SBE.
Stay tuned.
For all the interested readers and former and present SBE employees, kudos to you for reporting this story and seeking the truth. You reporting has exposed what appears to be an endless campaign of abuse of power, corruption, mismanagement, conduct unbecoming and the list goes on and on by Nancy Rodrigues at the VA SBE. Your sticktoiveness has made a hugh difference for those of us who care about good government and the decency of our leaders. Please continue your efforts. You get my Nobel Peace Prize for your journalistic integrity.
Update on Rodrigues’ Tenure at the Virginia State Board of Elections
Rodrigues’ appointment ended at the State Board of Elections (SBE) on January 31, 2011 and not a moment too soon. As it was reported at the Election Law Center, Rodrigues was centered around allegations of thuggery, racial disparities, corruption, abuse of power and most troubling the letting of a contract to Paul Stenjborn, a former SBE employee, totaling $176,000 in violation of the Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA) and other public policies.
Two former employees of the State Board of Elections, the agency’s Business Manager and the Procurement Officer, both of who’s employment was terminated, sought to bring light to Rodrigues’ transgressions through the state grievance process and the federal EEOC.
The Business Manager did not prevail during the grievance hearing and did not win re-instatement of his employment. Readers should understand that in the state process, you are asking it to rule against itself, which is highly unusual. However, there is a silver lining found in some of the evidence presented at the hearing. Several of the Written Notices against the Business Manager brought on by Rodrigues were either reduced or dismissed. Even the allegation that the Business Manager had threatened Rodrigues’ was dismissed after the testimony showed that because the Business Manager forwarded an email he received which contained a statement, “May God have mercy on your soul”, was the source of the assertion made by Rodrigues. Additionally, staff from the state’s Fraud, Waste and Abuse Hotline office provided testimony that they stood by the report that the office issued indicating the contract was procured in violation of the Virginia Public Procurement Act. Paul Stenjborn had written at the Election Law Center that was the initial report and another report was issued indicating no wrongdoing was found. This is clearly not the case.
The Procurement Officer is seeking to be heard through the U.S. District Court, Eastern District Division, where a lawsuit has been filed. One can only hope that truth seekers will prevail and that Rodrigues will be exposed for who she is and will be held accountable.
It is also worth noting, since criminal activity was involved, shouldn’t Rodrigues be investigated by the FBI for corruption? The question is being asked. She does not have the weight of her former office and position to throw around now, let’s see how she reacts and responds as a regular citizen!!!!!!
It should be noted that the Business Manager (25 years of service and a military veteran) and the Procurement Officer (28 years of State service) participated in the investigation that found Rodrigues guilty of entering into an illegal contract using federal funds from the federal Help America Vote Act.
Shortly after the fraud report was released substantiating her misconduct, Rodrigues terminated both the Business Manager and the Procurement Officer under pretext. Her charge for termination of the Business Manager were found to have no merit during an administrative hearing. However, in a puzzling ruling by the Hearing Officer, Rodrigues’ termination of the Business Manager was upheld based on an untried assertion that the Business Manager did not tell Rodrigues about a payment to the federal government.
What’s disturbing about this decision is that according to the charging documents, the Business Manager was not charged with this offense.
In the case of the termination of the Procurement Officer, State records show that the State Board of Elections administrative expenses for procurement and contracting materially increased as a result of Rodrigues’ actions.
As a political appointee, Rodrigues has thus far proved to be ‘above the law’. She is protected by the McDonald administration and reportedly has a close friendship with the Secretary of Administration. With the blessings of the Administration, she is continue to conduct business with State agencies.
Once the full details of her conspiracy to enrich her friends with federal funds is brought to light, it will be too late for the current Administration to distance themselves. They are fully accountable for harboring and protecting such a person.
Amen
Seems like fire is coming under Nancy’s feet.