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RICHMOND, VA – The Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE)
was notified Friday that more than one absentee ballot may have been mailed
to individuals requesting to vote absentee. The SBE wants to reassure voters
that the Virginia Election and Registration Information System (VERIS) has
safeguards built-in that will not allow a voter to have more than one ballot
counted per election.
There were five localities
with an alleged issue. After further review, Chesterfield County reported that approximately 48 duplicate absentee ballots were mailed, and Fairfax County approximates that less than 12 duplicate absentee ballots were mailed. According
to these localities, none of the duplicate ballots have been voted. Henrico County and the cities of Richmond and Petersburg report that they have not mailed any duplicate
absentee ballots. The SBE is continuing to investigate the matter to ensure
the integrity of the election process.
The information entered by the
registrars into the State Board of Elections’ data system indicates receipt
of the ballot, and also indicates whether the ballot has been returned voted
or not voted. VERIS will not allow a registrar to indicate the receipt of
more than one ballot per voter per election. If a second ballot comes in from
the same voter, the system will alert the registrar and the ballot will not
be counted. If a ballot comes in from someone who did not apply for an
absentee ballot, that ballot will be voided.
When counting the absentee
ballots on Election Day, the Officers of Election (who are appointed to
represent both of the major political parties) will only count one ballot
from each voter whose name appears on the final absentee applicants list.
These procedures are spelled out in state law. If a ballot is received from
someone who is not on the applicants list, it will not be counted. Likewise,
if a voter who has already voted absentee shows up at their polling place on
Election Day, they will not be allowed to vote a second time in that
election. The names of all the voters who voted absentee are marked in the
pollbooks before the polls open so they cannot vote twice.
Voters who receive more than
one absentee ballot should vote only one ballot, and are asked to return the
second ballot unmarked.
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