Prince William County General Registrar told PLN the new ballot drops would correct the issue with incorrectly-sized ballots that slowed voting when polls opened at 6 a.m.
At some polls, elections chiefs were instructed to fold ballots and place them into an envelope because they were too wide to be inserted into a scanner. Those ballots amounted to only a handful” and will be counted when polls close at 7 p.m., said General Registrar Eric Olsen.
Olsen said voter turnout is higher than normal for this election, with three percent of the electorate turning out to vote during the early voting period that ended Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Olsen said that two polling places had seen more than 100 voters, while others have been slow.
Voter turnout is expected to be less than 10% of the registered voters in the district, which is common for Special Elections like these, said Olsen.
Original post 8 a.m. — Elections officials in Prince William County are scrambling to fix ballot problems in today’s Special Election.
OrVoters who turned out today for a Special Election in the Gainesville District to replace the former county supervisor who resigned last year couldn’t insert their ballots into scanning machines.
The paper ballots at all 14 polling precincts in the Gainesville District were about a sixteenth of an inch too wide to fit into the scanners. That prompted some precincts to require voters to fold their ballots and insert them into an envelope for counting at the end of today, Election Day.
Meanwhile, the poll chiefs are no longer using the too-wide-to-insert ballots, which were printed in mass quantities, and instead are printing ballots on-site and handing them to voters when they arrive at the polling place.
That process will be in place until the county’s elections office can print and deliver new ballots, sometime before 10 a.m., Prince William County General Registrar Eric Olsen.
“This is unacceptable,” said Carol Czarkowski, with the Prince William County GOP.
Today’s ballot problems are reminiscent of similar problems during the 2020 Presidential Election when two ballot scanners at Battlefield High School were not working properly, said Czarkowski.
Olsen said the ballots were tested and that his staff found no issues. Ballots used during early voting, January 17 to February 18, were printed on-site and given to voters when they arrived at the polls.
Olsen told PLN he would investigate what led to the improper size ballots and take up the issue with the printer.
Today, voters are choosing between Democrat Kerensa Sumers or Republican Bob Weir to replace Peter Candland, a Republican who served 1o year on the Board of County Supervisors before resigning in December.
As we told you yesterday, the Special Election is a referendum on developing more data centers in Prince William County — large server farms that power the internet — and continued development of the county’s remaining rural lands.
Sumers supports more development, while Weir promises to oppose growth near Bull Run Mountain. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.
Click here to find out where to vote.
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