Townes v. Virginia State Board of Elections

Holding

In this appeal challenging the removal of two members of the City of Hopewell Electoral Board (“Board”), we consider whether the Circuit Court of the City of Hopewell (“circuit court”) erred when it instructed the jury regarding the proper burden of proof, whether the circuit court improperly allowed the Commonwealth to expand its grounds for removal beyond the grounds pled in its sworn petition for removal (“Petition”), and whether the circuit court abused its discretion when it excluded certain defense evidence at trial.