Upon Leaving His Role As Secretary Of The Electoral Board, Keith Scarborough Alleged That Steverson Illegally Arranged A Partisan Training Session For Election Officers. According to the Prince William Times, upon leaving his role as Secretary of the Electoral Board, Keith Scarborough wrote a letter alleging that Steverson illegally arranged a partisan training session for election officers. The Prince William Times wrote, “Scarborough’s letter alleges that Steverson inappropriately pressured Eric Olsen, the county’s director of elections, to provide newly appointed election officers’ contact information to Prince William County Republican Committee Chairman Denny Daugherty who was trying to arrange a partisan training session for them prior to Election Day. The training was to be conducted by Clara Belle Wheeler, a former Republican member of the Virginia State Board of Elections.” [Prince William Times, 12/9/22]
Steverson Mocked Registrar Eric Olson And Democratic Board Member Scarborough, Claiming They Were Overreacting To A Republican Effort To Install Republican Election Officers. According to Graham Moomaw, a Virginia political reporter, Steverson mocked Registrar Eric Olson and Democratic Board Member Keith Scarborough during an Electoral Board meeting, claiming that they were overreacting to a Republican effort to install Republican election officers. The Virginia Mercury wrote, Prince William County Registrar Eric Olsen said he would resign after the midterm elections after a local GOP leader made phone calls to election officers suggesting they would be getting different Election Day assignments than the ones Olsen had announced. The elections office also received a letter from a lawyer for the local GOP threatening a lawsuit if Republicans didn’t get more representation in the higher-ranking election chief and assistant chief roles. Olsen said he had worked diligently to recruit more Republican election officers in Prince William — a Northern Virginia county of more than 465,000 people that will be a key battleground in this year’s congressional races — without much assistance from the local Republican party he felt was turning needlessly hostile. Moomaw wrote that, “Board member Keith Scarborough pounding the table with his fist: ‘This is the 2nd year in a row the Republican committee has come to this board demanding that we replace an experienced election officer... with someone who's never worked an election.’” In response to both Scarborough and Olson’s anger, Moomaw wrote, “GOP-aligned board member London Steverson, after saying ‘good god’ and joking somebody must've put something in the water today: ‘Best efforts and good intentions are not a substitute for obeying the law. And I'm sorry Eric has gone to the nuclear option here.’” [Twitter, @gmoomaw, 10/7/22; Virginia Mercury, 10/7/22]