Democrats Warn Herndon Voters Of 'Misleading' Sample Election Ballot

HERNDON, VA — Calling themselves “Herndon Democrats,” a political action committee unaffiliated with the Fairfax County Democratic Committee is distributing "misleading" sample ballots, according to the Fairfax County Democratic Committee.

The sample ballots distributed by the Herndon Democrats PAC are inaccurately indicating a Democratic Party endorsement in the nonpartisan Town of Herndon elections on Nov. 8, according to the county Democrats.

One of the marked candidates on the sample ballot supported last year’s unsuccessful attempt to remove Fairfax County School Board Member Elaine Tholen (D-Dranesville) from office, the Democratic Committee said. A judge ruled in August 2021 to dismiss the motion to have Tholen recalled from her school board position.

“The distribution of such sample ballots is troublesome and confusing to voters,” Fairfax County Democratic Committee Chair Bryan Graham said in a statement Friday. “This document purporting to be a ‘Democratic Sample Ballot’ is misrepresenting its affiliation with the Party.”

Like the City of Fairfax, Herndon elections are nonpartisan and candidates run as independents.

At its March meeting, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee decided that the local Democratic Party would not be making endorsements in the nonpartisan Herndon elections in 2022.

The “misleading” sample ballot intentionally subverts the decision of the actual Democratic Committee not to make any endorsements in this year’s town elections in Herndon, Graham said.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the Virginia Board of Elections sent out 31,000 mailers for the Nov. 8 general election to registered voters in Herndon and other towns in Fairfax and Prince William counties that contained the wrong polling place information. Voters can visit the Virginia elections site to find their correct assigned polling place.

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