Democrats find dead man’s signature on petition gathered by GOP volunteers

Democrats found the signatures of a dead man and a woman who had moved on a petition gathered on behalf of an independent candidate by staff members of Rep. Scott Taylor’s (R-Va.) campaign.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Democrats combed over a petition to get Shaun Brown on the November ballot for Virginia’s 2nd District and found at least two questionable signatures out of hundreds reportedly gathered by four staffers for Taylor’s reelection campaign.

{mosads}One signature, dated June 9, reportedly belong to R. Stuart Cake, a man who died in Virginia on April 6.

Cake’s widow, Elizabeth Cake, who reportedly previously worked as a staffer for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), told the Times-Dispatch the signature purportedly by her late husband on the petition did not match his.

“There’s no way that could have been signed by him at any time,” she told the publication.

Eileen Eady, whose signature was also reportedly on the petition, said she moved to Las Vegas before the date she is supposed to have signed. 

“I definitely didn’t sign anything and I definitely didn’t give permission for anybody to sign anything,” she told the local publication. “I was shocked because not only do I no longer live in Virginia Beach, but I’ve been voting here in Nevada since 2014. I’ve voted in three elections here.”

A spokeswoman for Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle told the Times-Dispatch they are aware of the discrepancies in the petition.

Brown told the paper that she was not aware some of the volunteers rounding up signatures were Taylor staffers.

The Times-Dispatch reported that Taylor consented to his staffers volunteering for Brown because she may help siphon votes away from his Democratic rival, Elaine Luria. Taylor’s campaign did not confirm that motive.

“Many people here saw that a real injustice had been done against the 2016 2nd District Democrat nominee, Shaun Brown,” a spokesman for Taylor told Virginia’s WHRO. “Some people volunteered to fix this injustice.”

Brown previously ran against Taylor in 2016 and is reportedly on trial for fraud, according to WHRO.

Taylor told the Times-Dispatch he does not know how the signatures of a man who is deceased and a woman who moved appeared on the petition.

“You have no idea when you’re collecting signatures who’s signing,” Taylor told the local outlet on Monday of the incident. “So who knows?”

The Republican lawmaker added that he has investigated the matter and found nothing inappropriate took place.