"Is there "widespread" voter fraud occurring across Virginia or is the state Republican Party trying to suppress efforts by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) and the Democrats to register more people to vote?

In a conference call this morning, Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick (R-Prince William), the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, seized on recent news reports that three people in Hampton Roads have been charged with submitting false names on voter registration applications. The three canvassers worked for the Community Voters Project, a program of The Fund for the Public Interest.

"There appears to be a coordinated and widespread effort in Virginia to commit voter fraud," said Frederick, who added the state party is also in possession of affidavit from someone alleging their social security number was fraudulently used to try to register someone else to vote. "These are just two known and documented examples of known voter fraud, and what we believe to be a widespread problem across Virginia."

Frederick is calling on Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) to launch an investigation. Frederick is also urging residents to avoid giving their names or social security numbers to canvassers seeking to register voters.

"Identity theft is widespread problem in Virginia," Frederick said. "Today, I am encouraging voters who have filed out any of these voter registration forms to immediately contact their registrars, and Virginians should exercise caution when approached by a stranger who asks them for their information."

Frederick's warning comes as Obama is deploying volunteers across Virginia to try to register 151,000 new voters by the Oct 6 deadline. Various non-profit organizations are also trying to register new voters, especially African-Americans.

"Any voter registration work done by the party will be done with vigorous controls," said Jared Leopold, a spokesman for the Virginia Democratic Party. "Clearly this is a local problem that Jeff Frederick is trying to blow up into a statewide issue. We have real questions about his motivation in doing so. It seems he is trying to scare away people from legally registering to vote...What is Jeff Frederick so afraid of with legally registering new voters?"

Under fierce questioning from journalists, including a lengthy sparring match with a Washington-area radio reporter, Frederick defended his assertion of "widespread" voter fraud.

"We are just trying to make sure people are aware of these potential problems, so people take the appropriate precautions" Frederick said. "This is stuff is happening all over Hampton Roads and all over Richmond."

But at times, Frederick appeared to be breaking the state into two groups: those who are registered and those who are not.

"We are not looking for trouble," Frederick said. "Everyday we hear all these people are getting registered to vote, but we are trying to look out for the voters of Virginia and trying to look at the integrity of the process here in Virginia."" (Tim Craig, The Washington Post, July 28, 2008)