Virginia ex-election official sues over dropped 2020 vote count charges
A former Virginia election official is suing the state attorney general for malicious prosecution. The lawsuit stems from criminal charges‚ now dropped related to errors in the 2020 presidential vote count in Prince William County
Michele White‚ an ex-election official from Virginia has filed a lawsuit against the states attorney general. The legal action‚ initiated on 10/17/24 in a Richmond federal court‚ accuses Jason Miyares of malicious prosecution
White who used to be the registrar in Prince William County (Virginias second-most populous region) during the 2020 election‚ faced criminal charges about two years ago. Miyares a Republican indicted her on accusations of corrupt conduct‚ false statement‚ and willful neglect of duty. However these charges were dropped earlier this year
The lawsuit claims that Whites prosecution was “celebrated“ by Donald Trump supporters and those linked to the “Stop the Steal“ movement. It suggests that the case was used to validate their claims of election fraud
Prince William County officials recently explained the vote count errors. They mistakenly shorted Joe Biden by 1‚648 votes and gave Trump 2‚327 extra votes. This 3‚975-vote margin error didnt affect the overall result‚ as Biden won Virginia by a large margin
The majority of errors occurred in “split precincts‚“
White argues she wasnt personally responsible for these mistakes. Her lawsuit alleges that Miyares used her prosecution to justify his Election Integrity Unit and please his Republican base
The case against White was the only criminal prosecution brought by the Election Integrity Unit‚ established by Miyares in 2022. Whites lawyers suggest that her prosecution “created the justification for voters to continue to be deceived“ about the 2020 elections legitimacy
