State investigates complaint regarding absentee ballots

Virginia's top Republican charged state election officials Tuesday with distributing multiple absentee ballots for the same voter in several localities, including Virginia Beach, and called for a halt in processing those votes until the situation can be resolved.

Officials with the State Board of Elections confirmed Tuesday that they are aware of the complaint - a lawyer for the state GOP wrote to state election Secretary Nancy Rodrigues about the matter - but declined comment pending further investigation.

Norfolk deputy registrar John Merkel, who handles Norfolk's absentee ballots, said the state system has multiple safeguards to ensure that each absentee voter is counted just once.

Absentee ballot activity is logged into the state voter registration computer system. On every voter's record, there are fields for registrars to log when a voter requested an absentee ballot and for what reason, when a ballot was sent, and when a completed ballot was returned, Merkel said.

In Norfolk, returned ballots are filed by precinct and then alphabetically within the precinct. Duplicates would be obvious, he said.

"I have to account for every ballot I send out by number," Merkel said. Norfolk does not count the ballots until Election Day, when the paper ballots are checked against a printed list of absentee voters and then tabulated, he added.

The complaint by Jeff Frederick comes amid mounting concern in both parties, bolstered by several independent studies, that dramatic growth in voter registration and intense voter interest in the presidential campaign could produce a huge turnout and an array of problems across the state on Election Day.

Electionline.org, a Web site run by the non partisan Pew Center for the States, identified Virginia on Tuesday as one of a dozen states to watch for trouble at the polls. Because the state is a battleground in the presidential contest, even minor problems in voting are likely to be magnified by the campaigns and closely scrutinized by the media, said Dan Seligson, an Electionline spokesman.

Seligson said the group thinks state officials have done what they can to prepare for a record turnout "but it's going to be a very challenging day."

Turnout is forecast to be especially heavy in urban, largely African American communities, as Barack Obama tries to make history by becoming the first black president.

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, a Newport News Democrat whose district stretches from Hampton Roads to central Richmond, wrote registrars in Norfolk, Newport News and Richmond to warn of potential long lines and other problems resulting from too-few voting machines being available in minority precincts. Scott cited a study by the Advancement Project, a Washington-based national voter protection group.

For his part, Frederick, a member of the state House of Delegates from Prince William County, called the duplicate ballot issue he raised Tuesday a "troubling" reinforcement of the potential for "voter irregularities."

In a written statement, Frederick urged the Elections Board to "take decisive action to preserve the legality and integrity of this election."

Earlier this year, Frederick alleged widespread voter fraud in Virginia in response to news that a handful of people working to register voters in Hampton Roads had been charged with submitting registrations containing false information.

Republicans think a computer glitch is to blame for the more recent alleged duplicate ballots.

Efforts to reach Virginia Beach voting officials Tuesday to confirm or refute the existence of duplicate ballots were unsuccessful.

Staff writer Debbie Messina contributed to this report.

Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872 or dale.eisman@pilotonline.com

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564 orjulian.walker@pilotonline.com