Richmond Registrar General Keith Balmer told the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Wednesday that he would be unable to organize the upcoming election if his city-issued purchasing card remained suspended, but he expected the card to be reactivated “very soon.”
Two days later, he seemed to retract that statement.
The credit cards of Balmer and Deputy Registrar Jerry Richardson, who oversees operations at the city’s election office, were canceled in May amid allegations of financial irregularities. The inspector general is investigating the couple over those allegations and allegations of nepotistic hiring practices.
The Times-Dispatch previously reported that Balmer and Richardson had charged about $70,000 and $80,000, respectively, to their city credit cards before they were suspended in May. Transaction logs obtained through a public records request showed that Balmer had spent city funds at out-of-state restaurants and at luxury furniture store LaDIFF, while Richardson had used her card to purchase a firearm and other tactical gear.
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In an email to The Times-Dispatch on Wednesday – nearly 80 days before local, state and national elections – Balmer said he “cannot conduct the upcoming election without the use of our absentee ballots.”
“We fully expect that our maps will be restored following the release of the Office of the Inspector General’s report, which will happen very soon,” Balmer said in the email.
However, when asked to clarify his comments on Friday, Balmer apparently backtracked, noting: “The Richmond Board of Elections will conduct fair, timely and democratic elections whether there is a mapped out election or not.”
He said he would not comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.
Margaret Ekam, Richmond’s deputy communications director, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether city hall procurement officials plan to lift the card freeze in the near future.
A spokesman for the Office of the Inspector General also said he could not comment until the report was released.
John Ambrose, chairman of the Richmond Board of Elections, which has the power to appoint and remove election officials, previously told the Times-Dispatch that committee members would wait until they reviewed the report before taking action. He said the committee “takes the report seriously” but could not comment on Balmer’s future until it had more information.
For now, “the board trusts that Mr. Balmer and his staff will be responsible for managing the election office,” Ambrose said.
An internal investigation by the city’s Human Resources Department – independent of the Inspector General’s investigation – previously found that Balmer had violated city policies regarding nepotism and the hiring of family members.
On November 5, Richmond residents will go to the polls to vote on candidates for mayor, city council and state-level offices, as well as federal elected officials.
