Former Roanoke council candidate facing felony election fraud charges

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – A former candidate for the Roanoke City council is facing charges of election fraud stemming from the 2024 council election.
Jamaal Jackson, who ran as a Democrat before dropping out in June, was indicted last week four felony counts of making false statements on an election form, according to court records.
The offense date on the charges is listed as March 17th.
Last June, the city registrar’s office received an email alleging Jackson had copied some ballot-qualifying signatures from his 2022 campaign.

An investigation by the registrar’s office found only 97 signatures for Jackson were valid, out of the 125 needed for a candidate to get on the ballot.
An additional 11 signatures were found to have been dated after the signature page was notarized, which is in violation of Virginia law.
Jackson, who serves as a pastor at ReFreshing Church in Roanoke, was released on bail.
WDBJ7 was unable to immediately reach Jackson’s attorney for comment.
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