Voter Roll Removal, Wrong Ballots At Polling Place: Update From VA Election Commissioner

VIRGINIA — With polls open and voters casting their ballots for president and other races, Virginia's election commissioner briefed reporters Tuesday on recent removals from voter rolls, a wrong ballot issue at one polling place and more.

The Virginia Department of Elections and Election Commissioner Susan Beals held two Election Day briefings to provide an update on voting statistics and any issues at polling sites. Another briefing will be held at 9 p.m. Tuesday, two hours after polls close. Beal said voters in line by 7 p.m. at their polling place will be able to vote.

For full coverage of the election in Virginia, go here.

As of the 10 a.m. briefing, the state's election department was aware of one error at a polling place. At the Gilpin Court (Precinct 310) in Richmond, Beals said election workers gave 11 voters a federal-only ballot. The issue has since been resolved. Beals said the voters cast a federal-only ballot but did not get to complete a new ballot, because only one ballot could be submitted to the machine. The commissioner was unaware if the ballot was a presidential-only ballot or had all federal races.

The City of Richmond's electoral board notified the Virginia Department of Election that they had an emergency meeting to remove the precinct chief at Precinct 310. A replacement took over to oversee the precinct.

"Our registrars and our electoral boards are constantly surveilling their precincts," said Beal. "They're visiting them in person to make sure that if any issues occur, that they address them immediately."

In light of the Supreme Court ruling that Virginia can remove about 1,600 voters from the rolls, the commissioner discussed how the process works and what citizens removed from the rolls can do.

Beals said the voter roll removal process begins when a resident does a Virginia DMV transaction and self-declares they are a non-citizen. The resident either checks a box that indicates they are not a citizen or provides legal documents indicating they are a non-citizen, and that information is sent to the Department of Elections.

The Virginia Department of Elections compares that information to the registered voter list and notifies local registrars to process any voter roll updates. Beals said the local registrar contacts the impacted person and gives them a chance to affirm their citizenship if they made an error at the DMV.

The person is notified by mail and given 14 days to affirm the citizenship. If the voter does not respond, they are notified by mail that their registration is cancelled because they are not a citizen.

"We want every eligible voter in Virginia to vote," said Beals. "This is a process that has been in place since 2006. It has been managed and processed the exact same way by every administration since 2006, when the law was enacted. Nothing has changed in the way that that process is managed by the department."

Beals said the voter removal process ceased on Oct. 14. Same-day registration at the resident's precinct is an option for residents who believed the voter registration cancellation was done in error.

As of Nov. 1, Beals said Virginia has a record 6,374,437 voters. More than 2.3 million Virginians have already cast ballots through early voting, which includes more than 1.8 million in person and over 443,000 mail-in ballots.

Over 126,000 mail-in ballots sent to voters have yet to be returned to their local registrars. Mail-in voters have until 7 p.m. Tuesday to turn in their ballots in person or by drop box, or have it postmarked by Tuesday and received by noon on Friday.

Beals noted that overall mail-in voting has declined compared to 2020, which she attributed to voter concerns about voting in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, more voters using the mail-in ballot method are returning their ballots directly to the registrar's office or by drop box.

"We have not heard specific examples of people having delays in getting their mail back," Beals said. "Most voters are being very diligent about checking and making sure that their ballot has been received, which they can check online and see that it's been received by the office."

Although Virginia has a voter registration deadline, same-day registration is offered to allow voters to cast a provisional ballot.

Beals said 16,557 people have done same-day registration leading up to Election Day and she expects more registrations will come in Tuesday. Voters must go to the precinct in which their home is located to do same-day registration.

Taking a question from a reporter about Hampton University busing students to the polls, Beals said college towns may have long lines. She said numerous students have turned out to do same-day registration.

"We have heard that there are long lines in some localities that have universities and colleges as a lot of those students have been encouraged to same day register today," said Beals. "We have been in touch with those localities, and in every case, they are deploying more officers of election and supplies to those universities, to those precincts on their campuses. And what we would just encourage everyone to do...is please make sure you stand stay in line. Even if the seven o'clock hour passes, they will process you."

Beals assured voters that voting in the Nov. 5 election is secure.

"In terms of security and concerns about security, we have been meeting for many months with our state and federal law enforcement partners to plan for today," said Beals. "We've had several meetings where we've run through various scenarios to make plans. I can't speak any further to specifics, but there's been a lot of planning and forethought that has gone into today, and we're very confident that we're going to have a safe and secure election in Virginia."

Voters can check their polling place through the Virginia Department of Elections citizen portal. Results will start to come in after polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday on the Virginia Department of Elections website. On the results page, voters can check the "voting method" option to see a breakdown of early voting, mail-in, Election Day and provisional voting. Breakdowns of voting methods by precinct will be available within seven days, Beals said.