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A school board candidate in Fairfax County, Virginia, has been disqualified with less than two weeks before the election and a full month after voters began casting ballots in the race during early voting.
Marcia C. St. John-Cunning, who is running to be the Fairfax County School Board’s Franconia representative, was disqualified from appearing on the ballot by a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge on Oct. 25, FFXnow reported.
The judge’s order invalidated some of the signatures St. John-Cunning’s campaign had gathered to support her candidacy, because some of the paperwork did not properly list her address. The invalidated signatures put her below the number needed to appear on the ballot, according to FFXnow.
At a rally Thursday evening, St. John-Cunning, who has worked for Fairfax County Public Schools for 24 years, told supporters Thursday she is still running for the seat, and the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, which has endorsed her, said it plans to wage “an aggressive write-in campaign” to support her.
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Democrats in the county have denounced the judge’s ruling as “unprecedented” and an example of “voter disenfranchisement.”
St. John-Cunning’s candidacy was challenged by Virginia’s 8th District Republican Committee, which hailed the judge’s decision as a victory for the rule of law and fair elections.
The GOP group has endorsed St. John-Cunning’s rival for the seat, Kevin Pinkney, a lawyer and Fairfax County Public Schools parent.
While school board elections in Virginia are technically nonpartisan, candidates are often endorsed by political parties.
The Fairfax County Office of Elections has posted a notice on its website about St. John-Cunning’s disqualification. WTOP has reached out to Fairfax County General Registrar and Director of Elections Eric Spicer.
At the rally Thursday, which was posted to the Fairfax County Democratic Committee’s Facebook page, officeholders and supporters gathered around St. John-Cunning to support her and call for action.
Bryan Graham, the chair of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, said St. John-Cunning turned in the necessary signatures to get on the ballot last March.
“She told the office that she had additional petition signatures to file but the Office of Elections told her that she had already qualified for the ballot. The judge in this case overruled the discretion of the registrar to certify her candidacy.”
Jeff McKay, the chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, called on Spicer to appeal the judge’s ruling.
“This is pure, straightforward voter disenfranchisement,” McKay said. “There are thousands of people who have voted in this election already.”
In a news release, Fairfax County Democrats said an estimated 3,000 people have voted in the county’s Franconia District since early voting began Sept. 22.
McKay added, “The fact that people have already voted in this election, and this election has been ongoing for a long time, it’s unprecedented to intervene at this point and disqualify a candidate.”
St. John-Cunning told supporters she was going to keep running, “because I am passionate about what I do and what I’ve been doing for the past twenty-five years. This is not a political move. This is a passion move.”
She then cracked a joke about making sure residents who want to vote for her write her name clearly on the ballot, so that their votes can be counted.
“Make the teachers proud that you have great penmanship,” she said.
In a statement, the 8th District Republican Committee said the Democrats’ criticism of the ruling is misguided.
“Each party and each candidate are responsible for ensuring that all legal requirements for candidacy are met,” the group said. “Any confusion or disruption here is not the fault of the judicial system or the Republican Party, but rather a consequence of the (Fairfax County Democratic Committee’s) failure to properly vet its candidate.
In a separate statement, Fairfax GOP Vice Chair for Operations Nick Andersen said: “Wednesday’s ruling was a clear victory for the rule of law. Voters’ trust in the electoral process — namely, that rules are applied uniformly to all — is vital to the health of our democracy.”
The statement went on to say, “We’ve always believed that Kevin Pinkney, our endorsed candidate for school board, was the stronger candidate. Kevin’s level of care and attention to detail with his own campaign shows the distinct difference between a candidate of his caliber and the Fairfax County Democratic Committee’s apparent standard for service in elected office.”
