5th District candidate Shewmake challenges validity of Agelasto’s signatures

In the race for the 5th District City Council seat Lee Shewmake (candidate’s website) and Parker Agelasto (candidate’s website) are the 2 (used to be 3)  challengers trying to unseat Marty Jewell.  According to today’s RTD, Shewmake filed a complaint with the Richmond’s voter registrar and the city’s Electoral Board stating that Agelasto had errors in the required 125 registered voter signatures needed to be on the ballot.  The voter registrar and the Electoral Board ruled on the complaint in favor of Agelasto on Wednesday.

During Wednesday’s meeting of the city’s Electoral Board, Richmond Registrar J. Kirk Showalter said she had reviewed Shewmake’s complaint and found no reason to question Agelasto’s certification. She said it was the first time a candidate had challenged another’s petition signatures in her 17 years as Richmond’s registrar.

“There’s nothing in the Code of Virginia that requires people to put their full legal name on the petition,” Showalter said in an interview, adding that she was able to identify some voters based on partial Social Security numbers provided and address information. “I saw nothing in her complaint that would lead me to change my certification or suggest to the board that we should take any further guidance from the State Board of Elections on this matter.”

The article also goes on to discuss other complaints and issues with School Board candidate Tichi L. Pinkney Eppes and Mayoral candidate Michael K. Ryan.