WASHINGTON — The Fredericksburg-area voters who had sued for an election do-over after dozens voted in the wrong Virginia House of Delegates races Nov. 7 have dropped their lawsuit.
In a joint filing earlier this month, with the numerous state and local officials named as defendants in the suit, Dolores and Kenneth Lecky and other plaintiffs agreed the case should be dismissed.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis formally dismissed the case from federal court in Alexandria a short time later.
The Democratic-backed voters had previously dropped their appeal to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond after a three-judge panel there declined to block Republican Bob Thomas from being seated at the start of the General Assembly session in January.
Thomas beat Democrat Joshua Cole by 73 votes in the 28th District. At least 147 people cast ballots in the wrong House races across the 28th, 88th and 2nd House districts in parts of Stafford County and Fredericksburg.
Thomas’ victory, and a win in a random drawing to break a tie in another race, helped Republicans narrowly hang on to their once large majority by the slimmest of margins: 51-49.
Since the election, hundreds of misassigned voters have been found elsewhere in Virginia.
