Democrats launched a fresh round of attacks on Republicans over the issue of voter fraud Friday after a man working for a firm under contract to the Republican Party of Virginia was accused of discarding state voter registration forms.

Colin Small, 23, of Phoenixville, Pa., was arrested Thursday by sheriff’s deputies in Rockingham County, in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, on 13 charges of voter registration fraud. Police said a business owner in Harrisonburg, Va., reported Monday that someone had discarded eight voter registration forms behind his store.

The documents had been filled out, placed in a folder and stuffed into a bag, store owner Rob Johnson told a Richmond area NBC affiliate and said in a posting on his Facebook page.

An investigation led law enforcement to Small, who was described by the sheriff’s office as a “voter registration supervisor.” Small was employed by Pinpoint, a company contracted by the Republican Party of Virginia to register voters.

Democrats immediately called on the office of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II to investigate the case, but the State Board of Elections has decided against asking Cuccinelli to do so, the Associated Press reported Friday. A board official said the case appeared to be an isolated incident.

In a statement, Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Pat Mullins said that he was “alarmed by the allegations” and that Small was “fired immediately” when the allegations surfaced. “The Republican Party of Virginia will not tolerate any action by any person that could threaten the integrity of our electoral process,” Mullins said.

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Small’s arrest came just weeks after the Republican National Committee said it had cut ties with Nathan Sproul, after several Florida counties complained that Sproul’s firm had submitted hundreds of voter registration forms with irregularities or missing information.

The Republican Party of Virginia is one of several state parties that had used Sproul’s firm, Strategic Allied Consulting, which had in turn contracted work to Pinpoint, Small’s employer.

On his LinkedIn profile, Small is listed as a “Grassroots Field Director” for the Republican National Committee. But an RNC spokesman said Small had never been an employee of the committee.

 


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