DOJ Voting Section alum to head Virginia elections (Dems are upset, Palmer is honest)

Don Palmer, another distinguished alum of the DOJ Voting Section has been named the head of the Virginia State Board of Elections replacing Nancy Rodrigues. Don is a strong advocate for military voters. Governor McDonnnell deserves credit for this pick.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 28, 2011

RICHMOND - Governor Bob McDonnell today announced an additional appointment to his administration in the Administration secretariat. In addition, he announced appointments to two Virginia boards and commissions.

A bio for today’s appointments can be found below. Further announcements regarding additional appointments in the McDonnell Administration will continue to be made in the months ahead.

Administration

Donald Palmer, Secretary, State Board of Elections

Donald Palmer most recently served as the Director of Elections with the Florida Department of State, working with the Florida Secretary of State and 67 Supervisors of Elections in successful 2008 Primary and General Presidential Elections and the 2010 mid-term elections. During his tenure, he improved statewide processes of statewide registration verification and list maintenance and he successfully implemented changes to align Florida with the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act.

The Division of Elections consists of the Bureau of Election Records involved with the qualifying of candidates and receipt of campaign finance reports; the Bureau of Voting Systems Certification responsible for the testing and certification of voting systems entering the State of Florida; and the Bureau of Voter Registration Services implementing the federal statewide list maintenance mandates of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

Donald Palmer represented Florida as a member of the EAC Standards Board of the United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and was elected to the Standards Executive Board by his peers. He was also appointed by the EAC to the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) to represent elections officials on the Standards Board. These advisory boards provide recommendations to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) on voluntary standards for voting equipment, voting systems, and voter registration databases.

Prior to his tenure in Florida, he served as a trial attorney with the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Voting Section, where he enforced the federal voting laws and provided guidance to states on compliance with the civil rights laws. In that role, he brought suits against jurisdictions for violations of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). He also monitored compliance with the Uniform and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

In May 2009, Donald Palmer provided testimony to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on the proposed Military Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act eventually signed by President Obama, specifically highlighting Florida’s leading role in overcoming the obstacles military and overseas voters face in registration and voting.

Donald Palmer is a reserve Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG) where he served in Naples, Italy, representing Sailors and Marines accused of military offenses. He also served the Navy as an appellate counsel representing the Navy in the appeals of convictions of serious crimes. Earlier in his career, he served as an Intelligence Officer with the now retired Sea Strike Squadron Twenty-Two of S-3bs and Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) onboard “Big John”, the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy (CV-67).

He still serves in the Navy Reserves in Jacksonville, Florida. He is married and the father of three children.

Democrats are trying to smear Don Palmer and Gov. McDonnell already but it isn't working.

Virginia Democrat Brian Coy should chill out

Christian Adams
January 28, 2011

Brian Coy, Virginia Democratic Party flunkie, should chill out. He decides to attack Governor Bob McDonnell’s picks for the State Board of Elections on Day One. Coy bristles to the Washington Post:

"’If Bob McDonnell ever had an interest in nonpartisan handling of elections, it's safe to say it ended when he chose a former executive director of the Republican Party and a former adviser to a Republican congressman who had questionable ties to Jack Abramoff to run the State Board of Elections,’'' said Brian Coy, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia.

This is not a fight Brian Coy wants to have. Besides Coy being factually wrong, people in glass houses shouldn’t be lobbing rocks. The outgoing SBE Secretary, Nancy Rodrigues, is hardly the model of nonpartisanship. This blog has been covering her antics for over six months – and left a great deal on the sidelines. Nothing says her tenure can’t be examined more carefully just because she is gone, and by lots of print media. Nothing says that all of the media requests people have gotten to unload on Rodrigues by various people can’t be met. Let’s hope one of the last things outgoing Secretary Rodrigues does is take advantage of her Democrat party connections and call Coy and Company off.

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