Prince William County General Registrar Eric Olsen says a Washington State-based ballot printing service claimed responsibility for a $10,000 Election Day snafu.
Olsen said that K&H Printing in Everette, Washington, produced larger ballots than ballot-scanning machines in Prince William County could accommodate. The error led to a small number of ballots being hand counted in a Special Election on Tuesday, February 24, 2023.
K&H will reimburse $10,000 to the county for the ballot error, said Olsen.
Republican Bob Weir won the election against Democrat Kerensa Sumers, who were both vying to serve the remainder of former Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland’s term on the Board of County Supervisors, which ends December 31, 2023.
Olsen said the ballots worked fine during testing in the weeks leading up to Election Day. He told PLN the county’s Electoral Board would implement changes during the ballot testing phase for elections later in the year, though he wasn’t clear on what changes could be made.
“We generated several plans today we are going to weigh. We will also await a full report from the printer to see how they plan to quality control this issue in the future. We’ll discuss and explore the issue more at our next [electoral board] meeting in March in plenty of time to prep for the Primary Election in June,” Olsen told PLN.
All Board of County Supervisors and School Board seats are up during the November 2023 General Election. Several candidates face Primary Election challengers in June 2023.
Olsen said fewer than 5% of voters had a wrong-sized ballot on Tuesday. They were all hand-counted by officers at the end of Election Day in precincts with an equal number of Democratic and Republican officers present.
Weir beat his Democrat challenger Kerensa Sumers in a landslide 30-point victory today in a Special Election to determine who will complete the term of former Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland, who designed in Decembe022 after 10 years on the job.
Weir’s election is widely seen as a referendum on data centers and development, an answer to a Board of County Supervisors that continues to press forward on plaBattlefieldeNationalr more server farms in both residential areas in Bristow, and historical areas like the Manassas Battlefield National Park.
Several Democrats crossed party lines to vote for Weir after he promised to curb development in the rural area and for his opposition to data centers.
The five Democrats on the eight-member Board of County Supervisors support more data centers in an effort to increase the county’s commercial tax base, which they say, in turn, will lighten the tax burden on individual homeowners.
Democrats have also received substantial donations from labor unions, which have voiced support for data center construction.
With the approval of the Prince William Digital Gateway next to the battlefield, the county is primed to eclipse neighboring Loudoun to become the new data center alley, with more server farms powering the internet than anywhere in the world.
Opponents say that data centers consume too much electricity, use too much water, produce too much noise while cooling the servers inside the buildings, and create too much water runoff into area streams and reservoirs after the land is clearcut to build the centers.
With Weir’s win, Republicans keep the Gainesville District seat in their control, despite the changing electorate that, over the past 10 years, has shifted from Republican to Democrat control.
In the November 2022 General Election, Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D) won the Gainesville District.
It was a rough start to the election today when voters showed up to learn hundreds of pre-printed ballots were too wide to fit into the optical scanners. That left elections officials scrambling to print and deliver new ballots.
Suparna Dutta appeared at a parent's rights forum in Spotsylvania County just days after Virginia Senate Democrats ousted her from the Virginia Board of Education.
On February 7, 2023, Senate Democrats, including all who represent residents of Prince William County, voted to remove her from the Virginia Board of Education. Last summer, Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed the Indian immigrant to the position to be a voice for parents.
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Prince William County General Registrar told PLN the new ballot drops would correct the issue with incorrectly-sized ballots that slowed voting when polls opened at 6 a.m.
At some polls, elections chiefs were instructed to fold ballots and place them into an envelope because they were too wide to be inserted into a scanner. Those ballots amounted to only a handful” and will be counted when polls close at 7 p.m., said General Registrar Eric Olsen.
Olsen said voter turnout is higher than normal for this election, with three percent of the electorate turning out to vote during the early voting period that ended Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Olsen said that two polling places had seen more than 100 voters, while others have been slow.
Voter turnout is expected to be less than 10% of the registered voters in the district, which is common for Special Elections like these, said Olsen.
Original post 8 a.m. — Elections officials in Prince William County are scrambling to fix ballot problems in today’s Special Election.
OrVoters who turned out today for a Special Election in the Gainesville District to replace the former county supervisor who resigned last year couldn’t insert their ballots into scanning machines.
The paper ballots at all 14 polling precincts in the Gainesville District were about a sixteenth of an inch too wide to fit into the scanners. That prompted some precincts to require voters to fold their ballots and insert them into an envelope for counting at the end of today, Election Day.
Meanwhile, the poll chiefs are no longer using the too-wide-to-insert ballots, which were printed in mass quantities, and instead are printing ballots on-site and handing them to voters when they arrive at the polling place.
That process will be in place until the county’s elections office can print and deliver new ballots, sometime before 10 a.m., Prince William County General Registrar Eric Olsen.
“This is unacceptable,” said Carol Czarkowski, with the Prince William County GOP.
Today’s ballot problems are reminiscent of similar problems during the 2020 Presidential Election when two ballot scanners at Battlefield High School were not working properly, said Czarkowski.
Olsen said the ballots were tested and that his staff found no issues. Ballots used during early voting, January 17 to February 18, were printed on-site and given to voters when they arrived at the polls.
Olsen told PLN he would investigate what led to the improper size ballots and take up the issue with the printer.
Today, voters are choosing between Democrat Kerensa Sumers or Republican Bob Weir to replace Peter Candland, a Republican who served 1o year on the Board of County Supervisors before resigning in December.
As we told you yesterday, the Special Election is a referendum on developing more data centers in Prince William County — large server farms that power the internet — and continued development of the county’s remaining rural lands.
Sumers supports more development, while Weir promises to oppose growth near Bull Run Mountain. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.
Click here to find out where to vote.
A Special Election will decide who will serve the remainder of Peter Candland’s term on the Board of County Supervisors ending on December 31, 2023. Democrat Kerensa Sumers and Republican Bob Weir are vying to replace Candland, who resigned in December 2022 after ten years serving on the board.
You can find out where to vote here. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
Saturday, February 18, was the last day to vote early.
The election is widely seen as a referendum on developing Prince William County’s last rural areas and growing the county’s commercial tax base.
Sumers, largely funded by labor unions and the Democratic Party of Virginia, aims to open up the Haymarket and Gainesville areas to the continued development of data centers — large server farms that power the internet – becoming more prevalent throughout the county.
Sumers said the development would create more tax revenue for the county and bring “equity” between the Sudley Road corridor near Manassas and the area, which has been slower to develop.
In contrast, Weir is funded largely by small donations from residents who live in the district. He promises to be a brick wall when it comes to bringing more data centers to the county, which require large amounts of electricity (which may now be scarce in summer months, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality), use large amounts of water to cool the servers, and produce noise imitating from cooling fans on rooftops.
Both candidates met at Battlefield High School near Haymarket on February 9 for a forum, which morphed into a debate. PLN was there, and members may read our coverage.
Publisher’s note: Thank you to our paid members who allow us to keep producing the community journalism you’ve come to expect.
After tomorrow’s Special Election, the political attention in the county will shift to all Board of County Supervisors members who are up for re-election in 2023. Multiple supervisors, including Chair At-large Ann Wheeler, have Primary Election opponents from their respective political parties vying to unseat them.
In December, PLN gave you an exclusive interview with Candland to reflect on his time in office. Candland agreed to join his neighbors, offering to sell their homes to data center developers who are now vying to build server farms on 800 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield Park as part of the Prince William Digital Gateway Development.
Candland recused himself from all data center votes, including November 2, 2022, vote in which a politically divided board approved the Digital Gateway project.
Data from the Virginia Public Access Project (Elections: Prince William County Prince William County Supervisor – Gainesville (vpap.org) shows Democrat Kerensa Sumers raised $46,583, while Republican Bob Weir raised $20,005.
Sumers largest donors ($1,000 or more) included:
• Donations from Service Employees International Union – Local 512 to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org) (In-kind donation: digital advertisement)
• Donations from ActBlue Virginia to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org)
• Donations from Coalition for a Brighter PWC to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org) (address is Catharpin, VA)
• Donations from Democratic Party – Prince William County to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org)
• Donations from Mulhausen, Jeff to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org)
• Donations from Muslim Outreach and Volunteer Enterprise to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org) (In-kind donation: canvassing support)
• Donations from Sumers, Kerensa to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org) (loans)
• Donations from Stanley Martin Companies Inc to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org)
• Donations from Nova Building Industry Assn to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org)
• Donations from Kissler, Timothy L to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org) (In-kind donation: catering)
• Donations from Angry, Victor to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org)
• Donations from Boddye for Prince William County Board of Supervisors – Ken to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org)
• Donations from Compton, Bettie to Kerensa Sumers (vpap.org)
Weir’s largest donors ($1,000 or more) included:
• Donations from Lawson for Prince William County Board of Supervisors – Jeanine to Bob B Weir (vpap.org) ($1,000 cash + $1,000 in-kind donation for a campaign fundraiser)
• Donations from Weir, Bobert Burton to Bob B Weir (vpap.org) (loans)
• Donations from Kulick, Kathryn to Bob B Weir (vpap.org)
• Donations from Price, James M to Bob B Weir (vpap.org)
• Donations from Vega for Prince William County Board of Supervisors – Yesli to Bob B Weir (vpap.org)
• Donations from Ward, Elizabeth H to Bob B Weir (vpap.org)
Notable among Sumers’ donors is virtually every homeowner in the Catharpin Valley Estates neighborhood. This was the neighborhood that attempted to join the Prince William Digital Gateway CPA once they believed its passage was inevitable.
It would be interesting to learn who the contributors to “Coalition for a Brighter PWC” (The Virginia Public Access Project (vpap.org)) are. Since it has a Catharpin, VA address, could this be residents of the Sanders Lane area who want to put together a data center assemblage?
Just a guess. Draw your own conclusions.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to news@potomaclocal.com.
This Sunday is the last to vote early in the Special Election for Gainesville District Supervisor on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.
The last day to vote early is Saturday, February 18, 2023. Click here for more info on where to vote.
Democrat Kerensa Sumers and Republican Bob Weir took the stage for a candidate forum near Haymarket. Read our full report.
Sumesr and Weir drew stark contrasts between themselves regarding commercial development and data centers, with Sumers calling for more widespread development and Weir calling to curb development and scrapping a plan to add 30,000 more homes to western Prince William County.
Both agreed the county could do more to fund parks.
The PWC Office of Elections will be open this Sat. 2/11 & Sun. 2/12 from 8:30 am-5:00 pm for Early Voting for the Gainesville Special Election. *PLEASE NOTE!* Sunday 2/12 is the ONLY Sunday Voting Day for this Special Election. Come vote before the big game!
— Prince William County Office of Elections (@PWCVotes) February 10, 2023
The two candidates seeking to become the next Gainesville District Supervisor met on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at Battlefield High School near Haymarket.
Kerensa Sumers, backed by Democrats, and Haymarket Town Councilman Bob Weir, who won a Republican Primary to become the party's nominee, sparred over the ever-increasing number of data centers in western Prince William County.
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Stafford County Circuit Court Clerk Kathy M. Sterne announced her intention to seek a second term in office.
Sterne has served as the circuit court clerk for the past seven years and has spent 29 years in the Clerk of Courts office in Stafford County. Voters elected Steren in 2015.
Barbara Decatur served in the role from 2003 from 2015.
“We have accomplished many things in the past seven years, and I look forward to moving this office forward in the next term,” said Sterne in a press release.
The Clerk of Court has over 800 duties in Virginia, and Stafford is in the top 6th busiest clerks office.
Sterene has worked to make changes within the Clerk’s office, according to the press release, while being mindful of tax dollars in modernizing the office and securing outside funding to maintain historical records.
“I want to thank everyone who supported me in 2015, and I look forward to serving you in the future,” said Sterne.
Stafford County Voter Registrar Anna Hash said Sterne has not yet submitted enough signatures qualifying her to be on the ballot.
The General Election is Tuesday, November 7, 2023.
