RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The challenger to Virginia House Speaker William J. Howell is suing members of the Virginia State Board of Elections. Susan Stimpson alleged in a lawsuit filed in Stafford County Circuit Court on Wednesday that the elections board hurt her campaign by ruling that voters could submit electronic signatures on absentee ballot request forms. Stimpson said the board’s ruling earlier this month on electronic signatures was “arbitrary and capricious.” The board’s ruling came after receiving a request for clarification on state policy from Howell’s campaign. Stimpson is a former Howell protg who has said the speaker has lost touch with his small-government roots. A spokesman for Howell said Stimpson’s attacks are “getting more ridiculous by the day.”
