See also:     
Ongoing Election Coverage 2006    [

    Virginia: FBI Looks Into Voter Intimidation
    By Jeff E. Schapiro
    The Richmond Times Dispatch

    Tuesday 07 November 2006

    The FBI is looking into possible voter intimidation in Virginia's hard-fought U.S. Senate contest between Republican incumbent George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb.

    Just ahead of today's election, state officials alerted the U.S. Justice Department to several complaints of suspicious phone calls to voters about where they cast ballots and their preferences for the Senate.

    Jean R. Jensen, secretary of the State Board of Elections, said yesterday that she was subsequently contacted by an agent in the FBI's Richmond office. The FBI is the investigative arm of the Justice Department.

    Dee Rybiski, spokeswoman for the FBI here, declined comment.

    Jensen said she called the Justice Department's civil rights office in Washington and the Virginia attorney general after receiving a complaint Sunday from a voter in Arlington County and one yesterday from the registrar in Accomack County.

    Jensen said she later received a report from the Hampton registrar about a call to a voter there. That complaint came in response to an e-mail from Jensen to local registrars about possibly deceptive phone calls.

    "Voters should not be intimidated or deceived by phone messages purporting to be from election officials," Jensen said in a written statement. "Any communication from federal, state or local election officials will always be in a written form clearly identifying the official source."

    With published polls depicting the Allen-Webb race as a tossup, both sides are mobilizing lawyers and voting experts to watch for irregularities and prepare for a possible recount.

    In a written statement issued by the Webb campaign, state Democratic Party counsel Jay B. Myerson suggested that Republicans are behind efforts to suppress votes for Webb.

    "We've seen this tactic before, and it is about time the Republicans learned that it will not work," Myerson said.

    Shawn M. Smith, executive director of the Virginia Republican Party, said the state GOP and Allen campaign are focusing on mobilizing votes for Allen.

    As for voter intimidation or suppression, Smith said: "We are not aware of any such activities taking place and are skeptical of the claims being made. Nonetheless, we condemn such activities if they are being conducted by outside organizations."

    J. Tucker Martin, spokesman for Attorney General Bob McDonnell, had no immediate comment.