A Manassas grand jury indicted Prince William County’s former general registrar this week on three criminal counts of election corruption, the office of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced.
Michele White, who resigned last year after holding the office since 2015, is facing charges of corrupt conduct as an election official and making false statements as an election official, both felonies, as well as willful neglect of duty as an election official, a misdemeanor. All of the alleged incidents took place between August and December 2020.
Eric Olsen, who assumed the role of overseeing voter registration and election administration in Virginia counties when White resigned, reportedly ignited the investigation after noticing oddities in official documents handled by his predecessor.
And while Olsen suggested the alleged conduct did not reach the level of impacting election outcomes, White’s actions were enough to prompt an overhaul of the electoral board’s leadership team to ensure fair and accurate elections, according to a statement provided to ABC7.
“Many improvements and best practices have been adopted to ensure a safe and transparent voting experience for the voters of Prince William County,” Olsen said in the statement.
Additional details in the case, such as the extent to which White allegedly affected votes, are currently unavailable due to the ongoing investigation.
“The Office of Elections has no further comment at this time as this is pending litigation and our office will preserve the office’s records for public review when the matter has concluded,” Olsen said.
Court dates in the case are pending.
Feature image, rawpixel.com/stock.adobe.com
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