Lawyers debated whether or not a Norfolk Electoral Board member’s actions were grounds for removal during a Circuit Court trial Tuesday.
A representative for state and local election officials attempted to convince a judge that Marianne McKay, the vice chair of the Norfolk Electoral Board, had failed her job duties, while her attorneys said her actions were legal and permissible as an electoral board member.
The trial came after Norfolk election officials asked a Circuit Court judge to remove McKay from her position on the board, citing several claims of misconduct.
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney K. Miles Scott said an attempt by McKay to remove her certification of the November general election results in an email amounted to abandoning her duties as a board member.
“She stops being a public servant and becomes a saboteur,” Scott said.
In a November email, McKay attempted to rescind her certification of election results because she was not allowed by the board to inspect thousands of provisional ballot envelopes.
Scott argued that instead of attempting to remove her certification, McKay should have pursued her objections to provisional ballots through the legal system.
William Turner, an attorney for McKay, argued that the email was not grounds for removal because the election has already previously been certified and the email did not cause that to change.
Scott also argued that because McKay trained and led a group of Republican poll watchers, she had engaged in political activities while performing her Election Day duties as a board member, which is forbidden in the state job description.
In response, Turner argued the activity did not fall under her duties as a board member and was permissible. He noted that other current and former board members called as witnesses also spoke with poll watchers at the polls. However, those witnesses said they did not direct partisan poll watching efforts during those elections.
Much of the trial revolved around 2024 being the first Presidential election where Virginia allowed those who register to vote on Election Day to cast a provisional ballot. As a result, thousands more provisional ballots were cast in Norfolk than normal elections, many from precincts located near college campuses. Those ballots must be researched by election officials and approved by the electoral board.
Two GOP poll watchers communicated with McKay on Election Day in November about alleged problems at a precinct near Norfolk State University. They said photo identification was not checked by some election officials and some voters talked about receiving money or good grades for voting for Democrats, the poll watchers claimed.
Rather than alerting Norfolk General Registrar Stephanie Iles or other board members, McKay testified that she called a GOP lawyer to speak with the poll watchers. In her testimony, Iles said she didn’t know about the specific claims until after the election because McKay never told her, which prevented her from stopping the alleged behavior.
After the attorneys presented their arguments, Circuit Court Judge Everett Martin gave lawyers a few weeks to make final written statements before he would issue his ruling.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com