Problematic mail-in ballots to be counted in Prince William County

About 320 mail-in ballots will be scanned at the Prince William County Office of Elections following chain-of-custody concerns from elections volunteers.

The number represents about 30% of the 1,100 mail-in ballots the office has received since early voting began in September.

Volunteers found that one of the two seals on the ballots had been opened before they were set for counting. In a statement, Prince William County General Registrar Eric Olsen said he’ll keep the ballots to be counted.

Here’s part of the statement:

These mail ballots will be reviewed and counted unless election officers reviewing them find a different reason to reject them (rare). While election officers generally unseal the ballot envelope when they process the mail ballots, under Virginia Code §24.2-709.1, our office is required to mark the date received and examine the ballot envelope to verify the required information has been provided. In doing so, the seal on some of the ballot envelopes inadvertently came open. Deputy Registrars resealed them and they have been stored in a secure location prior to review. Under Virginia Code §24.2-709.1(B), circumstances that prevent compliance with the officers unsealing the envelope is “not grounds for contesting the election” and “shall not invalidate the absentee ballots.”

The issue drew the attention of former Virginia General Ken Cuccinelli, now with the Election Integrity Initiative and a campaign organizer for Yesli Vega, running for Virginia’s 7th Congressional seat.

(1/2) VA election integrity problem in Prince William County. Gen. Registrar employees are opening mail-ballot envelopes-exposing voters' ballots(!)-& then presenting them to partisan Election Officials & asking them to certify that the exposed ballots aren't spoiled!

— Ken Cuccinelli (@KenCuccinelli) October 28, 2022

“Elections have a thousand components, and small parts sometimes go wrong. That is why when this was brought to my attention this morning, I worked with our bipartisan election officer teams and immediately had officers stop processing any envelopes with seal deficiencies to (1) determine the scope of the problem and (2) determine the causes and legal framework of the issue,” said Olsen.

Olsen abruptly announced his resignation earlier this month, saying he’ll step down following the November 8 General Election. He cited stress health concerns as the reason for his resignation, which comes about a year after he was hired.