No Signs of Voter Suppression, Report Finds

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — It’s impossible to determine the one culprit that led to the long lines at polling places on Election Day in 2012, because there were many.

Unusually high voter turnout, malfunctioning voting equipment and the lack of extra voting machines, voters whose names did not properly appear on voter roll books, voting precincts that have too many residents and are too crowded, and too many problems during the voter check in process at the polls, led to long lines. Some polls closed about 11 p.m., according to a final report from the bipartisan Prince William County Election Task Force.

The commission was convened shortly after last year’s election as officials, both on the local and federal levels, wanted to know why so many people had to wait two or more hours in line to cast their votes. At Potomac Middle School in Woodbridge where the last vote was cast at 10:45 p.m., some waited more than four hours to vote.

Two other problematic polling places in Prince William County — Dumfries Town Hall and Fred M. Lynn Middle School in Woodbridge — were places where some of the last votes of the day were cast.

77 total voting precincts in Prince William County

Polls closed at 7 p.m. 

Last voter check in at more than half of polls in Prince William County was 8 p.m. 

3 polls had last voter check in by 10 p.m. 

Last voter River Oaks Precinct (Potomac Middle School) 10:46 p.m.

5% of total ballots cast in Prince William, 6.14% on cast on Election Day, done after 7 p.m. 

-Election commission report findings

On Election Day there were several accusations of voter suppression. The commission found “no evidence of a concerted effort to commit voter fraud in the county, or any concerted effort of voter suppression,” the final report states.

The Prince William County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to accept the report, and to move forward with several recommendations the task force made, which included:

Subdivide precincts larger than 4,000 voters into smaller districts

Allocate voter resources based on actual number of registered voters in precinct, not based on the number of voters who cast ballots in the past two years

Provide adequate funding, personnel, parking for polling places

Ensure schools that serve as polling places are fully closed on Election Day

Promote absentee voting

Use laptop computers instead of paper roll books at voter check in

Keep additional voting equipment hand in case of equipment failure

Complete the purchase of new voting equipment, have in place for 2015 Election prior to 2016 Presidential Election.

“If we had more voting machines we could have processed more quickly,” said commission Chairman James Young.

The commission overwhelmingly stated voters in Prince William County should not wait more than 30 minutes to cast their ballot.