Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said that thousands of voters receiving incorrect voting information is “unacceptable.”
Miyares is frustrated with the vendor that made the mistake, said a spokeswoman for his office, Victoria LaCivita.
“Our office is working with the Department of Elections in exploring all legal remedies against the vendor and ensuring that voters receive the correct information,” she said.
Voters in the towns of Clifton, Dumfries, Herndon, Occoquan, Quantico and Vienna — and voters in other parts of the commonwealth — got notices that had incorrect voting location information.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay said that the county sent letters to the affected towns in the county, providing them with the correct information, and reached out directly to them. However, McKay said there were still a large number of calls from voters who were confused by the incorrect mailing.
“We are also profoundly disappointed that something like this happened in the Commonwealth, particularly when such attention has been placed on the importance of election integrity in recent years,” McKay said in a letter to Fairfax County delegates.
McKay wants a full investigation into the process the Virginia Department of Elections followed that led to the mistake.
“The factors that led to this mailing, as well as detailed findings of the investigation, must be publicly released, along with any recommended corrective actions, so Virginians can understand what happened and ensure that it never happens again,” McKay’s letter said.
The Virginia Department of Elections said in a statement that the error was due to a “printing issue” following the redistricting process. Some 176,000 notices were sent to voters whose original notice did not include their town district number, or to voters who had a post office box, the department of elections said.
Last month, Miyares unveiled the creation of an Election Integrity Unit, which aims to “administer legal advice to the Department of Elections, investigate and prosecute infractions of Virginia election law, work with the election community during the whole year to establish regularity and legality in the operation of election laws and work with law enforcement to secure legality and purity in elections.”
Virginia voters can find out more about elections and where to vote in the state in WTOP’s Virginia Voters’ Guide.
