Fairfax Co. Republicans Sue To Get Franconia School Board Candidate Removed From Ballot

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — The Fairfax County Republican Party and three residents who live in the Franconia District are asking the Fairfax County Circuit Court to order the county registrar’s office to disqualify a Democratic Party-endorsed candidate for school board from the ballot in the Nov. 7 general election.

The petitioners contend that six of the signatures submitted by the campaign of Marcia St. John-Cunning, who is running for the Franconia District school board seat, were invalid because they were undated, “rendering them legally ineligible to support her petition to obtain access to the ballot for the November 7, 2023, General Election.”

Virginia law requires candidates for school board to collect at least 125 valid signatures to get on the ballot.

"Because early voting and the mailing of absentee ballots in Fairfax County will begin by September 22, 2023, time is of the essence in ordering Defendant [Fairfax County General Registar Eric] Spicer's compliance," the petitioners wrote in the Sept. 14 lawsuit.

The three Franconia District residents —Alice Almasi, David Almasi and Rachael Heiner — and the Fairfax County Republican Party contend that the signature petition pages submitted by St. John-Cunning’s campaign included 125 signatures deemed to be valid, and 31 signatures deemed to be invalid.

Once Spicer, general registrar and director of elections for Fairfax County, “performs his non-discretionary duty of discounting the six invalid signatures, Ms. St. John-Cunning will have submitted at most 119 signatures, and thus be disqualified according to Virginia election code,” the petitioners stated in their lawsuit against Spicer in his role as general registrar.

St. John-Cunning, who was endorsed by the Democratic Party, is facing off against Republican endorsee Kevin Pinkney in the general election. Tamara Derenak Kaufax, the three-term Franconia District representative on the school board, announced earlier this year that she would not be seeking re-election.

During the Democratic endorsement process, Derenak Kaufax backed St. John-Cunning for Franconia District school board.

The campaign of St. John-Cunning had not responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit filed by the Republicans when this article was published.

"Fairfax Republicans know they can't win school board races on the issues, so they have sunk to trying to remove their opposition," Bryan Graham, chair of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, said in a statement.

"Ms. St. John-Cunning filed her ballot access paperwork in March, months ahead of the June filing deadline. Ms. St John-Cunning told me she had additional pages of petitions that she offered to bring to the registrar, but the office told her it was unnecessary because she already qualified for the ballot," Graham said. "The delay in pursuing this claim until now has no equitable remedy. She must be allowed to remain on the ballot."

Heiner, one of the petitioners in the lawsuit, sent an email to Spicer on Sept. 2 highlighting “an insufficient number of signatures” collected by St. John Cunning’s campaign.

In his Sept. 8 response to Heiner, Spicer said he had provided the Virginia Department of Elections with a list of the candidates who filed for local offices in Fairfax County. “Given the Department’s confirmation of accuracy pursuant to Va. Code § 24.2-612, I am not authorized to remove Ms. St. John-Cunning from the ballot,” Spicer wrote.

In an affidavit accompanying the court petition, Heiner wrote said she was "shocked by the [Fairfax County Office of Elections'] lackadaisical response — and refusal to disqualify Ms. St. John-Cunning for her clear failure to submit the required number of signatures by the [June 20] deadline."

"It baffles my mind that the Office of Elections is not following the law," Heiner said. "I am distressed by the damage the Office of Elections' careless response can cause to the election system and the public trust."

In another affidavit accompanying the lawsuit, Nick Anderson, vice chair for operations of the Fairfax County Republican Committee, said based on his experience with the Fairfax County Office of Elections, the office requires "exacting compliance with applicable rules" in ballot petition matters.

"I am in disbelief that the Office of Elections has taken no action to invalidate updated signatures that are at the end of the ballot petitions," he said. "I can think of no example where the Office of Elections waived a material defect in a petition signature — and I am troubled at the possibility that candidates are not receiving equal treatment."

Because it involves a legal matter, Spicer referred Patch to his lawyers in response to a request for comment on the lawsuit. Spicer's lawyers had not responded at the time this article was published; Patch will update with their response.