COURTHOUSE — A Lake Edward man who was running to represent the new District 4 on the Virginia Beach City Council does not have enough signatures on nominating petitions to make the ballot.
Election officials on Friday, June 24, disqualified Mike Mitchell from the November ballot due to issues with the petitions. The Virginia Beach Electoral Board on Friday, July 1, upheld the earlier determination that Mitchell did not have enough signatures, unanimously rejecting an appeal of the decision.
“They counted one additional signature, but he still failed to make the ballot,” Virginia Beach Director of Elections Christine Lewis said.
“It did not go to my best interests, but the fight is not over yet,” Mitchell said following the meeting with the board. Mitchell said he may still run as a write-in candidate.
Mitchell, who has worked in the food service industry, filed to run for council under the new 10-district local voting system. Mitchell said he is a longtime volunteer for the local GOP. He said he has not sought office before.
His disqualification means Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond, a former member of the City Council, is the only person on the ballot for the council seat in District 4.
Ross-Hammond previously held office representing the Kempsville District under the former at-large local voting system. She is a retired Norfolk State University distinguished professor, and she is the founder and chairperson of the Virginia African American Cultural Center.
Ross-Hammond on Wednesday, June 29, declined to comment about Mitchell’s disqualification.
Mitchell on Tuesday, June 28, told The Independent News he’d gathered 174 signatures, but, after these were reviewed, city election officials found he had not met the requirement for 125 valid signatures to make the November ballot.
Lewis in a Friday, June 24, email on behalf of the board told Mitchell he had been disqualified.
“We regret to inform you that only 110 of the names submitted could be verified as qualified registered voters of the city of Virginia Beach,” Lewis wrote.
Among the issues raised with the petitions was a full page of signatures that was invalidated because information about the candidate was not completed before the page was circulated, Lewis wrote.
Mitchell met with Lewis in her office on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 28, and then he sat at a counter and wrote information for the board to consider about some of the signatures.
“Oh, hell no,” he said while reviewing a disputed signature he said came from someone who said they lived in the district.
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