Petersen Employee Dropped Off Sample Ballots At Fairfax City Polls

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Sen. Chap Peterson (D-Fairfax) confirmed on Friday that a person associated with his office had dropped off anonymous "independent/non-partisan" sample ballots Saturday at Fairfax City Hall, which was open for early voting.

"I was not aware of that," Petersen said, in a phone interview. "I told her to not be involved. She had no business to be involved. That was something she was doing on her own time."

Shannon Duffy, whom Petersen described as a "contract employee" who worked part-time for his office, told Patch earlier in the week that two neighbors had given her a white envelope containing 70-100 copies of the independent/non-partisan sample ballot. She described the neighbors as being elderly and not politically involved. They just needed someone to drop the envelope off at the polls on Saturday and Duffy offered to do that for them, she said.

"It was not appropriate for her to be involved," Petersen said. "I told her that, and she immediately left or stopped whatever she was doing. I did not know about it ahead of time, and I was not happy to learn about it in the way I did."

Related: Complaints Filed Over Sample Ballot Distributed At Fairfax City Hall

On Wednesday, Patch reported that incumbent city council candidate Jon R. Stehle and Laura Stokes, the campaign manager for mayoral candidate Catherine S. Read, both filed complaints about the sample ballot via the Virginia Department of Election's Stand by Your Ad form. Since then, incumbent city council candidate D.T. Tom Ross notified Patch that he filed a similar complaint.

The "independent/non-partisan" sample ballot was designed to reflect the real Fairfax City ballot voters would see when they voted. The names for all of the candidates running in the 11th District congressional, mayor, city council, and school board races were listed. But, the names of mayoral candidate Sang H. Yi and city council candidates Kate G. Doyle Feingold, Joseph D. Harmon, So P. Lim, Jeffrey C. Greenfield, Anahita N. “Ana” Renner, and Craig S. Salewski were all in much larger type and in bold. Additionally, the oval next to each of their names was filled in.

Near the bottom of the ballot, the message “Vote Both Sides” was printed above a box that read: “Paid for by concerned citizens of Fairfax City. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”

Shortly after early voting began at the end of September, the City of Fairfax Democratic Committee was criticized for bringing partisan politics into the city election when volunteers began handing out sample ballots with the names of candidates the committee supported.

City elections are traditionally non-partisan and candidates must run as independents, according to both the city charter and the Code of Virginia.

What Stehle, Stokes, and Ross object to about the "independent/non-partisan" sample ballot" is that it does not indicate how the candidates were chosen nor who was behind the ballot.

“I believe it's critically important to know who is sponsoring material being sent out around elections,” Stehle told Patch on Monday. “People can put together whatever ballot they would like, but acknowledging clearly who the sponsor of the ad is, is in the guidance from how to do sample ballots, and we should follow that guidance.”

“The sample ballot being handed out by the Democratic Party is properly attributed,” Brenda F. Cabrera, the city’s director of elections and general registrar, said on Monday. “It's in compliance with what the code requires. It says at the bottom who it's sponsored by and who's handing it out.”

Related: Partisan Election Criticized In Letter From 20 Fairfax City Leaders

Even though anyone can use Stand By Your Ad to file complaints about campaign ads used in the Nov. 8 election, those complaints won’t be presented to the State Board of Elections until its next regularly scheduled meeting in January 2023, according to Andrea Gaines, VDE’s external affairs manager.

In addition, the Virginia Code requires any person, campaign, or political committee in a local election to report whether they spend $200 or more for any ad in support of the election or defeat of any candidate. Those who spend $200 or more are required to identify themselves in the ad, but those who spend less than that can remain anonymous.

The envelope Duffy brought to city hall also contained copies of a letter that had been sent to approximately 6,000 registered voters in the city about two weeks ago.

"We personally believe that these elections for local office should remain nonpartisan, so that all citizens can participate, and candidates can be chosen based on their merits — not their political party affiliation," the letter says.

Related: $210K In Campaign Contributions Reported In Fairfax City Mayor's Race

Twenty current and past elected officials signed the letter, including Petersen.

"I didn't write it. It was not my idea. I did look at it and approved the text. I tried to keep it as neutral as possible," he said.

When asked about the letter's disclaimer, which reads, "Paid for and authorized by the signatories. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee," Petersen said he had not paid for the mailer but would pay his portion if he received an invoice.

As to why Petersen wanted to preserve the tradition of non-partisan elections in the city, he gave two reasons.

"One is the Hatch Act, because we have so many federal employees in the city, and, two, we have a tradition of, for lack of a better term, merit-based elections as opposed to party-based elections. That's not to say parties aren't important. They are particularly in congressional and even state races. But it's a small town. It's a city of 24,000 people. It really should not be caught up in what are big national issues about Joe Biden or Donald Trump."