The Virginia State Board of Elections Tuesday unanimously decided to accept overseas military ballots that had been rejected last week.
The three-person board voted to accept Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell’s opinion, written Monday, that Fairfax County must count about 100 absentee military ballots from overseas that were being withheld because of a state law.
McDonnell said Monday that a federal law “bars” local election officials from rejecting military absentee ballots because of a technicality.
Fairfax County Registrar Rokey Suleman rejected about 100 ballots last week because the servicemen did not include the addresses of the person witnessing the ballots, as required by a state law passed in 2002, though the ballots gave little indication that the information was required.
The federal government changed the form three years later, which cut out the space for the witness’ address, contributing to the confusion.
“I’m very happy this issue, which was created by the legislature, has been resolved. We always wanted to count these votes, and I am pleased we now have the go-ahead to do so,” Suleman said.
Jean Cunningham, chairwoman of the State Board of Elections, said she was pleased that the votes would be counted, but also that registrars followed the law.
“I’m just happy that the votes are going to be counted,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield, who held a news conference last week about the initial problem. “Regardless of the state law, there clearly was a problem that needed to be fixed. Clearly, the law needs updating, and I expect it will be updated in the next General Assembly session.”
The ballot problem is just one of several issues the state is dealing with before Election Day. The Virginia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a lawsuit against Gov. Tim Kaine on Monday, arguing that the state has not adequately prepared for the general election.
Kaine said Tuesday that Virginia is prepared to handle an expected record turnout on Election Day.
“I’m hopeful we’ll be OK,” Herrity said. “I think we’re going to see record turnout, and that’s likely to cause problems. Some problems you can’t foresee.”
The Board of Elections said Tuesday that all jurisdictions in the state have the required amount of voting machines in each district — one machine for every 750 registered voters for electronic voting machines, which typically have buttons or touch-screen systems, and one voting booth for every 425 registered voters for optical scan machines.
The number of voting machines in the state has increased from about 6,000 four years ago to about 10,600 this year, a 77 percent increase, the board said.
