Deadline to request mail-in ballot has passed. But Virginia’s election system mistakenly let people apply anyway.
The deadline to request a mail-in ballot has passed, but Virginia’s election system is mistakenly letting people apply anyway.
What appears to be a computer glitch is creating confusion for hundreds of registered voters days before the Nov. 3 general election.
“I have over 100 I have to deny and as of Saturday, Fairfax (County) had over 400,” Virginia Beach Deputy Registrar Christine Lewis wrote in an email Monday morning. “I am sure they are over 1,000 now.”
Through an automated system, the Virginia Beach registrar’s office is issuing letters denying the applications. But the letters incorrectly say the deadline to apply is Tuesday. That’s because they were printed before that time was moved to 5 p.m. on Oct. 23. Lewis said she and other election officials have sought answers from state officials to no avail.
Andrea Gaines, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Elections, said the submitted applications are for future elections, not the November general election. But that isn’t clear for applicants navigating the state’s website.
Fairfax County spokesperson Brian Worthy confirmed that officials have received a “large number” of applications past the cutoff, but couldn’t specify how many Monday afternoon.
“This is a result of the Virginia Department of Elections not shutting down the application process on their website, following the statutory deadline,” Worthy wrote in an email.
This season has been extraordinarily busy for election officials, as laws were tweaked from week to week by a newly Democratic-controlled General Assembly during its January session, requiring updated processes or overhauls to ballots themselves.
Roanoke Registrar Andrew Cochran said his office has received about 10 to 12 late applications. Staff are mailing letters to those people to let them know they’ll have to show up in person if they want to submit a ballot.
“I hate that the mail has slowed down significantly,” Cochran said. Severe delivery delays by the US Postal Service, blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic and changes implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, have led to much unrest about mail-in voting this year. “By the time they get that, there’s not much recourse other than to come and vote (in person) early or on Election Day.”
Earlier this month, a federal court extended the state’s registration deadline after an accidentally clipped fiber optic cable took down the Department of Elections website for hours on the final day of voter registration. Voter advocacy groups sued, leading to the two-day extension.
So far, about 1.2 million Virginians have voted in person. Overall, nearly 2 million have voted, whether by mail or in person — about half the number of people that voted overall in the 2016 general election.
Only about half a million voted absentee either in person or by mail in 2016, when Virginia’s rules for doing so were far stricter.
The last day to vote early in person is Oct. 31. Visit elections.virginia.gov for more information.
Ana Ley, 757-446-2478, ana.ley@pilotonline.com
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