Virginia Election Official Resigns After Report Found He Spent $500,000 on Alcohol, Hotels, Private Security, and Office Remodel

Keith Balmer

The top two election officials in Richmond, Virginia, resigned on Wednesday after a report claimed their office misappropriated $500,000 on expenses, including alcohol, unnecessary hotel stays, private security, and a luxury remodeling of office space leased by a government agency. Their resignations will reportedly take effect on December 31.

Richmond General Registrar Keith Balmer resigned on Wednesday, with the Richmond Electoral Board reportedly accepting both his resignation and the resignation of his deputy, Jerry Richardson. This comes just one week after Richmond Inspector General James Osuna released a report claiming their office wasted almost $500,000 in taxpayer money.

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Virginia Election Official Wasted $500,000 on Alcohol, Private Security, and Remodel of Leased Office Space: Report

Keith Balmer

The top election worker in Richmond, Virginia allegedly wasted nearly $500,000 on a combination of alcohol, private security and efforts to create his own security staff, and the remodel and purchase of new furniture for leased office space, a report from the city’s watchdog agency claims.

The Richmond Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report Monday revealing Richmond General Registrar Keith Balmer is accused of wasting nearly $500,000 in taxpayer resources through a pattern of behavior that apparently began in 2023.

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Election Officials Warn USPS About Key Issues with Voting by Mail Ahead of Presidential Election

USPS

A group of state and local election officials voiced concerns Wednesday regarding the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) capacity to efficiently handle the delivery of millions of ballots for the 2024 presidential election.

The National Association of State Election Directors and other officials wrote a letter to U.S. Postal Service Postmaster Louis DeJoy expressing concerns about USPS’ operations, such as processing delays, lost or delayed election mail and insufficient training that could impact the timely and accurate delivery of election mail. The officials stated in the letter that mailed ballots, postmarked by the required date during the past year and recent primary season, arrived at local election offices several days past the deadline for counting.

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Swing States Using Taxpayer Dollars to Turn Out Democratic Voters

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes

Election officials in two key swing states are using taxpayer money to register and turn out voters who will most likely vote for Democrats in the November election.

As reported by The Federalist, Democratic officials in the states of Arizona and Nevada have announced initiatives to turn out younger voters, who overwhelmingly lean Democratic, with roughly 6 months to go before the election in the fall. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D-Ariz.) announced that his office will partner with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge to promote the “Arizona Campus Voting Challenge,” which Fontes falsely claims is a “nonpartisan initiative.”

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