A Virginia judge has dismissed eight felony counts against a Republican Party campaign worker who threw voter registration forms in a dumpster. Colin Small, 23, still faces misdemeanor charges related to the incident in October, according to his lawyer, John Holloran of Harrisonburg, Va. But the felonies were thrown out during a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Holloran said in an interview. “I think they charged it three days after the event and thought it was the tip of the iceberg and that there was this huge voter fraud conspiracy that was occurring,” Holloran said. But a grand jury investigation turned up no other evidence of fraud. The next hearing in the case is set for April 16.
… On the last day of voter registration, Small was spotted throwing away the forms in an alley behind a restaurant. He says he threw them away because all of them were out of date and invalid. One turned out to be a convicted felon, and three were voters who were already registered. Holloran said all of them were Republicans.
The felony charges came under an election code provision that bars the use of Social Security numbers for fraud. But the judge decided “disposal did not equal disclosure,” Holloran said.
Full Article: Virginia judge dismisses voter fraud felony charges – latimes.com.