Voters again given wrong ballots in competitive Stafford County
November 5, 2019 at 4:06 p.m. EST
Some Stafford County residents have voted in the wrong races two years after similar issues led to legal challenges in a tight Virginia General Assembly contest.
Voters in six Stafford precincts were given the wrong ballots early Tuesday, Commissioner of Elections Chris Piper told reporters. The issue was fixed within the first hour of voting, according to Piper. But any votes cast in the wrong district will count in those races, as they did in 2017.
In 2017, one race involved in similar ballot mix-ups around Fredericksburg was so close it ended in a recount; Democrats
tried unsuccessfully to block Republican Robert Thomas from taking office.
The Democratic candidate in that race, Joshua Cole, is now running against Republican Paul Milde III, who beat Thomas in a primary earlier this year. Milde campaign manager Dustin Curtis said they are "deeply disturbed by the ballot irregularities" but are "continuing to gather facts before considering legal options."
The mistake also impacted voters in two less competitive districts. Several districts in the area divide precincts, and voters have had issues getting the right ballots for years.
All 140 seats in the General Assembly are on the ballot, and voters also are weighing in on local races for county supervisor and prosecutor seats.
Voters at several Prince William County polling places told reporters they had gotten ballots misprinted with the same choices on both sides. A local election official said the issue was "being handled" but could not say whether or not those ballots would be counted.
Jenny Meyer said she and her husband tried to vote around 11:10 a.m. at Rippon Middle School in Prince William and could not because of the mistake.
About a dozen people were waiting around, Meyer said, hoping to be able to vote. She was told by poll workers that the machines rejected the defective ballots and that they should wait for new ones to arrive. But after an hour, she and her husband gave up and left.
"I enjoy voting, it's a big deal for me, so I'm a little upset — shocked, really," Meyer said.
She was able to vote later in the afternoon; a poll worker told her the correct ballots arrived at the precinct around 1:30 p.m. She was told about three dozen people left Rippon Middle School without voting although most returned later.
One Richmond precinct ran out of ballots early in the morning, due to a mix-up in population counts. The issue was resolved within 15 minutes of notification, registrar J. Kirk Showalter said, and affected only voters in the 9th Senate district, not the competitive 10th Senate district. He added his "utmost apologies" for anyone turned away and said "we hope they will go back and vote."
