Incorrect voter notices sent out in Virginia towns, officials say
VIRGINIA - Election officials in Virginia are working to fix an issue where voter notices with incorrect information were sent out to voters.
According to the Virginia Commissioner of Elections, Susan Beals, the notices were sent to voters in the towns of Clifton, Dumfries, Haymarket, Herndon, Occoquan, Quantico, and Vienna.
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Beals says the notices contained incorrect voting location information.
"Following the redistricting process, the Department of Elections mailed over 6 million voter notices to all registered voters in the Commonwealth," a press release from Beals explained. "A second mailing of 31,000 sent to voters whose original notice did not include their town district number contained wrong polling place locations."
Senator Jennifer Boysko and Delegate Irene Shin put out a joint statement saying they are disappointed and misinformation is unacceptable.
"We cannot afford to have people not trust the system. Everyone needs to come out and vote," Boysko said.
"I think especially right now in the current political climate, it’s really important to underscore for our voters that voting is a cornerstone of our democracy and voting in Virginia continues to be safe and secure and that voters should be able to cast their ballot without any confusion," Shin said.
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General Registrar Eric Spicer said 25,000 people in Fairfax County were impacted and they are taking calls one by one to ensure everyone gets to the right polling place on Election Day.
"It’s frustrating to our voters and it’s frustrating for us and I’m sure it’s frustrating to the staff at the Department of Elections staff in Richmond," Spicer said. "It’s one more thing for my staff to deal with. They’ve been here for other work, very late nights, weekends, but we take this very seriously. The voters – that’s what it’s all about. That’s what gets us through the day. We have absentee voting happening right now."
Spicer tells FOX 5 DC his department previously sent two accurate notices to residents. Once in June and another sample ballot back in September.
However, Fairfax County and Prince William County Registrars are sending out corrected notices to any impacted voter.
Spicer is encouraging people to take advantage of absentee voting happening now.
"Any voter in Fairfax County can come vote at one of our in-person absentee sites no matter where they live in Fairfax County and of course, we’re leading up to the November 8th Election Day," Spicer said.
Voters can check their voting information by clicking here or by calling 804-864-8901 and dialing 0.
You can also visit https://www.elections.virginia.gov/