A rather bizarre development in Virginia. On election day Glenn Youngkin’s 17 year old son twice tried to vote illegally. Indeed, he attempted to do so – twice – in a precinct where his family doesn’t even live.
The younger Youngkin went to vote in a precinct at the Great Falls Library in Fairfax County. He presented his ID which identified him as a 17 year old. The voting official realized who Youngkin was and told him that people under the age of 18 are not allowed to vote in Virginia. She offered to register him for the next election but he left. He then returned about 20 minutes later and insisted he be allowed to vote because an unidentified friend of his, also 17, had been allowed to vote. The precinct captain, Jennifer Chanty, again told him that he was not eligible to vote.
State officials say – I think rightly – that there is no crime because the younger Youngkin didn’t try to falsify his identity or age. So he didn’t break the law since he wasn’t allowed to vote.
Asked about the incident a spokesman for Gov-Elect Youngkin attacked people “pitching opposition research on a 17-year old kid who honestly misunderstood Virginia election law” while Youngkin was trying to unite the state.
What I find so strange about this is that kids being ineligible to vote is hardly an obscure part of election law in the US. It’s often less than clear when people who have committed crimes in the past are again eligible to vote. Sometimes it’s not clear what’s legit as your primary residence or how long you have to have lived somewhere. But doesn’t everyone know you have to be 18 to vote? Weird story.
Among the Fray 