(no subject)
yet another article. this one explains, to anyone who didn't already know, why i have left my job with the county.
Fired County Registrar Was Victim of 'Witch Hunt'
Nancy Krakover
I am writing this to expose the facts surrounding the firing of General Registrar Diane McIntyre on Feb. 17 ["Registrar's Ouster Assailed," Metro, Feb. 19].
I am outraged that this story has been so poorly reported and McIntyre's reputation has been needlessly sullied. My protest is driven by my concern for equity, justice, fairness and decency.
I must point out that my criticisms are in no way directed at Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly, the supervisors, County Executive Anthony H. Griffin or county legal and personnel staff. We work well together and conduct business in a nonpartisan manner. They share my frustration.
That caveat aside, McIntyre was the victim of an outrageous witch hunt orchestrated by the two Democrats on the Fairfax County Electoral Board, Vice Chairman Larry E. Byrne and Secretary Margaret K. Luca. Their actions are questionable.
They sought to maximize the conflict by inciting people who regularly express negative feelings. Moreover, the controversy is not about code violations or mismanagement of the registrar's office, as has been reported in The Post. Those allegations are but a pretense, a political spin to twist the Code of Virginia into misuse by setting up McIntyre.
For example, Byrne and Luca voted to institute a suggestion box system and subverted that effort by using it to trigger anonymous written complaints against McIntyre -- their clumsy attempt to "build a case."
Byrne and Luca allege that the general registrar was short-staffed and ill-prepared to handle the workload during the past election cycle. The facts speak otherwise. Record numbers of voter transactions were processed (17,000 the last week alone). All absentee ballot applications were processed before the 8 p.m. Oct. 28 deadline. Eighty percent of the phone calls to the office were answered within 20 seconds.
Delays that occurred were the result of computer and other breakdowns at the State Board of Elections, and ballot printing errors by the county electoral board's office, under Luca's supervision. From August through October, the state computer system experienced breakdowns, significantly restricting time available for data entry, affecting absentee transactions and in-person voting, and delaying the printing of the voter books. Despite these delays, which were beyond McIntyre's control, she got the work done on time.
I submit that these delays and breakdowns, whether intentional or not, put McIntyre in an untenable position and were used to set in motion the conditions by which Byrne and Luca justified their action to remove McIntyre from office. They should have been considered mitigating factors prior to action taken by the board. In fact, no action should have been taken at all!
On the Thursday before the election, McIntyre received a list of 80 alleged felons from the State Board of Elections -- a point at which it was too late to confirm their status, inform them they were being removed from the voter rolls and allow them to assert their right to vote. Often these lists contain errors because people make mistakes filling out the forms. McIntyre refused to remove the names from the voter lists because she didn't want anyone to be denied their right to vote unfairly and without due process.
Eighteen of the alleged felons voted. Five of these 18 voters have been contacted and were indeed eligible to vote. To my knowledge, efforts to contact the remaining 13 have not been successful, as yet.
McIntyre also didn't want Fairfax County, with its history of fair and honest elections, to become embroiled in the kind of controversy that hit Florida during the 2000 elections. (At that time The Post and other news organizations denounced Florida officials for removing alleged felons from the voter rolls. I have seen studies that show that many of those individuals were actually eligible.)
In addition, in early fall, Byrne was accusing McIntyre of taking eligible voters off the rolls. Although the charge was specious, I believe he was setting her up so that no matter what decision she made, he could justify her removal.
Had McIntyre received the felons list earlier, she could have provided the affected individuals an adequate and reasonable opportunity to determine their eligibility. Additionally, McIntyre knew if felons voted, they would be committing another felony and could be identified and prosecuted.
As a result of the delay by the State Board of Elections, McIntyre was put in a position where she either might allow some felons to vote or deny some eligible voters their rights. Either way, Byrne and Luca were ready to take their action. With the state board implicated and culpable, it chose not to get involved, enabling Byrne and Luca to operate with impunity. With the state board appearing to be participating actively in the action against McIntyre, she was denied due process. She had no appeal rights and no venue to present her rebuttal.
The issue could have been resolved fairly had Byrne and Luca acted reasonably. They chose draconian measures, which I believe were not justified, and fired McIntyre. They did not investigate the situation as they announced publicly they would; they ignored the extenuating circumstances regarding the state's delays; they ignored other options available, such as giving her a reprimand or putting her on probation. They made no attempt to ascertain whether any ineligible voter actually voted.
On Feb. 9, County Attorney David P. Bobzien sent Byrne a letter challenging his assertion that the electoral board could convene a closed session to discuss the general registrar's office. But the meeting was held anyway, against my protest. Byrne later told me he dismissed the county attorney's advice. This shows how Byrne and Luca have taken extraordinary steps to go after McIntyre.
I find Byrne's behavior and dealings with me, McIntyre and her staff especially egregious. I can only conclude that McIntyre was railroaded. She was punished for trying to assure that nobody was unfairly denied the right to vote.
In my opinion, Byrne and Luca were engaged in a personal vendetta against McIntyre that constitutes an abuse of their positions. They created a crisis where none existed. Their actions eroded the capacity of the electoral board to function properly.
This mess deserves a fair and impartial investigation. However, since the State Board of Elections is involved, an independent investigator would be required. I don't know if such an investigation is possible. I fear that there will be no investigation, and the issue will be swept under the rug. That would be a miscarriage of justice.
As I have stated, this sorry episode did not have to take place and was not justified. The actions of my board colleagues must be condemned and not allowed to be repeated.
Fired County Registrar Was Victim of 'Witch Hunt'
Nancy Krakover
I am writing this to expose the facts surrounding the firing of General Registrar Diane McIntyre on Feb. 17 ["Registrar's Ouster Assailed," Metro, Feb. 19].
I am outraged that this story has been so poorly reported and McIntyre's reputation has been needlessly sullied. My protest is driven by my concern for equity, justice, fairness and decency.
I must point out that my criticisms are in no way directed at Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly, the supervisors, County Executive Anthony H. Griffin or county legal and personnel staff. We work well together and conduct business in a nonpartisan manner. They share my frustration.
That caveat aside, McIntyre was the victim of an outrageous witch hunt orchestrated by the two Democrats on the Fairfax County Electoral Board, Vice Chairman Larry E. Byrne and Secretary Margaret K. Luca. Their actions are questionable.
They sought to maximize the conflict by inciting people who regularly express negative feelings. Moreover, the controversy is not about code violations or mismanagement of the registrar's office, as has been reported in The Post. Those allegations are but a pretense, a political spin to twist the Code of Virginia into misuse by setting up McIntyre.
For example, Byrne and Luca voted to institute a suggestion box system and subverted that effort by using it to trigger anonymous written complaints against McIntyre -- their clumsy attempt to "build a case."
Byrne and Luca allege that the general registrar was short-staffed and ill-prepared to handle the workload during the past election cycle. The facts speak otherwise. Record numbers of voter transactions were processed (17,000 the last week alone). All absentee ballot applications were processed before the 8 p.m. Oct. 28 deadline. Eighty percent of the phone calls to the office were answered within 20 seconds.
Delays that occurred were the result of computer and other breakdowns at the State Board of Elections, and ballot printing errors by the county electoral board's office, under Luca's supervision. From August through October, the state computer system experienced breakdowns, significantly restricting time available for data entry, affecting absentee transactions and in-person voting, and delaying the printing of the voter books. Despite these delays, which were beyond McIntyre's control, she got the work done on time.
I submit that these delays and breakdowns, whether intentional or not, put McIntyre in an untenable position and were used to set in motion the conditions by which Byrne and Luca justified their action to remove McIntyre from office. They should have been considered mitigating factors prior to action taken by the board. In fact, no action should have been taken at all!
On the Thursday before the election, McIntyre received a list of 80 alleged felons from the State Board of Elections -- a point at which it was too late to confirm their status, inform them they were being removed from the voter rolls and allow them to assert their right to vote. Often these lists contain errors because people make mistakes filling out the forms. McIntyre refused to remove the names from the voter lists because she didn't want anyone to be denied their right to vote unfairly and without due process.
Eighteen of the alleged felons voted. Five of these 18 voters have been contacted and were indeed eligible to vote. To my knowledge, efforts to contact the remaining 13 have not been successful, as yet.
McIntyre also didn't want Fairfax County, with its history of fair and honest elections, to become embroiled in the kind of controversy that hit Florida during the 2000 elections. (At that time The Post and other news organizations denounced Florida officials for removing alleged felons from the voter rolls. I have seen studies that show that many of those individuals were actually eligible.)
In addition, in early fall, Byrne was accusing McIntyre of taking eligible voters off the rolls. Although the charge was specious, I believe he was setting her up so that no matter what decision she made, he could justify her removal.
Had McIntyre received the felons list earlier, she could have provided the affected individuals an adequate and reasonable opportunity to determine their eligibility. Additionally, McIntyre knew if felons voted, they would be committing another felony and could be identified and prosecuted.
As a result of the delay by the State Board of Elections, McIntyre was put in a position where she either might allow some felons to vote or deny some eligible voters their rights. Either way, Byrne and Luca were ready to take their action. With the state board implicated and culpable, it chose not to get involved, enabling Byrne and Luca to operate with impunity. With the state board appearing to be participating actively in the action against McIntyre, she was denied due process. She had no appeal rights and no venue to present her rebuttal.
The issue could have been resolved fairly had Byrne and Luca acted reasonably. They chose draconian measures, which I believe were not justified, and fired McIntyre. They did not investigate the situation as they announced publicly they would; they ignored the extenuating circumstances regarding the state's delays; they ignored other options available, such as giving her a reprimand or putting her on probation. They made no attempt to ascertain whether any ineligible voter actually voted.
On Feb. 9, County Attorney David P. Bobzien sent Byrne a letter challenging his assertion that the electoral board could convene a closed session to discuss the general registrar's office. But the meeting was held anyway, against my protest. Byrne later told me he dismissed the county attorney's advice. This shows how Byrne and Luca have taken extraordinary steps to go after McIntyre.
I find Byrne's behavior and dealings with me, McIntyre and her staff especially egregious. I can only conclude that McIntyre was railroaded. She was punished for trying to assure that nobody was unfairly denied the right to vote.
In my opinion, Byrne and Luca were engaged in a personal vendetta against McIntyre that constitutes an abuse of their positions. They created a crisis where none existed. Their actions eroded the capacity of the electoral board to function properly.
This mess deserves a fair and impartial investigation. However, since the State Board of Elections is involved, an independent investigator would be required. I don't know if such an investigation is possible. I fear that there will be no investigation, and the issue will be swept under the rug. That would be a miscarriage of justice.
As I have stated, this sorry episode did not have to take place and was not justified. The actions of my board colleagues must be condemned and not allowed to be repeated.