Virginia GOP Caught Destroying Voter Registration Forms- UPDATED

On Monday I saw a really interesting story coming out of Harrisonburg on Facebook:

"I just saw a guy throw a bag of trash in my cardboard dumpster and speed off. I went to get the bag and throw it in the trash dumpster. In the bag was a folder containing FILLED OUT VIRGINIA VOTER REGISTRATION FORMS!! I called the Harrisonburg Registrars office and they sent the police who said they really didn't know what to do in a case like this because its never happened before. The police took the forms and left. I'm really concerned because today is the last day in Virginia to register to vote and if these forms are tied up while trying to figure out what to do, will these people be allowed to vote??? I'm tagging you Lowell since I thought you might want to follow up on this. I spoke with Debbie at the Harrisonburg office and police spoke with Doug at the Rockingham county registrars office"

Who would drive up to a dumpster on the registration deadline day to throw away completed voter registration forms and why?
 

The car that drove up was a black Toyota Camry with Pennsylvania license plates.  Who would be in the Valley from Pennsylvania and have a bunch of completed voter registration forms that they wanted to destroy?

Once this story hit Facebook, a number of people pointed out to the person who witnessed this crime that the state GOP "Victory Office" was just a couple blocks away.  Yesterday afternoon, guess what car was parked in front of the office?

Yep, a black Toyota Camry from Pennsylvania.

Police are investigating and the local media has begun reporting on this story.  The Sheriff (a Republican) has said the person who destroyed the forms was a different person than who collected them.  NBC29 also reports that the Sheriff will decide if this is a criminal case today.  

Uh.... how can attempting to throw completed voter registration forms in the dumpster *not* be a criminal case?

More to come on here soon, including whether this was a paid GOP staffer and perhaps what his motives were?  Were these people that identified as Democrats when they were filling out forms and the GOP decided to destroy them?  What other motives could there be?

Either way, I bet this guy from Pennsylvania is going to be spending a lot more time in Virginia than he planned on, hopefully in one of our prisons.

UPDATE:  Sources close to the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office are telling me that Strategic Allied Consulting is involved in this.  This is the same group that was in the national news two weeks ago for their "registration" drive in Florida that had forms with made up voters.

 

Even more interesting.  Strategic Allied Consulting shares a Virginia headquarters with two other notables.

#1- American Crossroads- the superpac founded by Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie

#2- The office of Virginia State Senator Jill Holtzman Vogel.

UPDATE:  FIRST ARREST MADE- AND IT IS AN OFFICIAL REPUBLICAN PARTY OF VIRGINIA VENDOR. 

Comments

[HeritageDems]

PA plates in Harrisonburg is not that unusal. It is a college town, after all (JMU) and students come from all over.

[HokieGuru]

Outstanding work, Ben!!

[DDorf]

PA plates in Harrisonburg may not be unusual. PA-registered cars involved in felony destruction of voter registration forms are a little less common. If the cops or State Police won't investigate, call the FBI. They will investigate Federal crimes, and that is one of them.