Goode: Recount should include military ballots

Facing the loss of his seat, U.S. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. said Thursday that all late-arriving absentee ballots cast by U.S. troops overseas should be counted as part of next week’s recount in his 5th District race.

A federal judge in Richmond ruled Tuesday that Virginia’s State Board of Elections violated the law by mailing out absentee ballots to military voters too late for them to send back their ballot by Election Day. However, the judge added that the 4,750 such ballots across the state need not be counted, as they would not change the outcome of any race in Virginia.

In the 5th District race, Democrat Tom Perriello of Ivy defeated Goode, a Republican from Rocky Mount, by a margin of 745 votes, according to verified election returns. An official recount has been scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We have said from the beginning that this recount is not about overturning the results of the election,” Goode said in a written statement. “This is about getting it right. One way we know we can get it right is to count the votes of the brave women and men in uniform who are serving our nation overseas. But if we leave their votes out, then we’ve done wrong by them.”

Goode called on Perriello to also ask that the late-arriving military votes be counted.

“The votes are here, waiting to be counted,” Goode said. “The only question is will we count them, or will we leave them out? Today, I am calling on Mr. Perriello to join me in asking the Recount Court to count these military votes.”

Perriello’s campaign said that it supported counting the military ballots a month ago. In a written statement Thursday, Perriello reiterated that support.

“Our brave troops serving overseas absolutely deserve to have their voices heard and their votes counted in this election and all elections as they fight for our Democracy,” Perriello said. “That is why I strongly believe that those military ballots in question that arrived late and were held aside should be included in the vote count of Virginia’s 5th District.”

Perriello’s spokeswoman Jessica Barba criticized Goode for issuing the statement.

“Given that Virgil Goode and Congressman-elect Perriello agree on this issue, it’s clear that Mr. Goode’s statement to the press is an unfortunate attempt to play politics with our troops’ right to vote,” she said. “While election officials are working incredibly hard to maintain the integrity of the democratic process and the recount, it’s regrettable that Mr. Goode is choosing to insert politics into the mix.”

Barba added that there are only 30 to 60 late-arriving military ballots in the 5th District.

Brian McNeill is a staff writer at the Daily Progress in Charlottesville.