Your vote counts, but what if you’re not allowed to cast it?

Here’s another case of apparent voter suppression, this time reported by well-known Virginia blogger and activist Not Larry Sabato.

Apparently a Fairfax, Virginia is removing voters from the roll because they didn’t “show up for jury duty.” One voter, Crawford, explained that he had has his duty waived:

Earlier today, I had a chance to speak with Charles Crawford. Ai??Mr. Crawford is a resident of Great Falls, Virginia. Ai??He has been registered at his current precinct for over 20 years.

But when Mr. Crawford showed up to vote today, he was denied his ballot.

Mr. Crawford tells me he then went home, calling the state board of elections who told him they didn’t know why he wasn’t on the voter rolls. Ai??He then called the Fairfax County Board of Elections and found the problem.

Apparently Fairfax County Clerk John T. Frey, a Republican, had sent in to the electoral board “2,000 names” of people who had “not shown up for jury duty” to be removed as registered voters.

Mr. Crawford told the electoral board he had not received a letter for jury duty in years, and when he had to opt out some time ago it was because he was a member of the foreign service stationed overseas, and he sent in that information and received a letter back confirming that he had been waived from jury duty.

This act of suppression joins numerous others that have been occurring all over the country.

It’ll take time to get to the bottom of all this, but in the meantime you can sign up to call voters and get to the polls with our Call Out The Vote program.