Judge: Late military ballots probably won't be counted

A federal judge says he's unlikely to order Virginia election officials to count late absentee ballots from overseas military personnel.

However, U.S. District Judge Richard Williams directed the State Board of Elections and the U.S. Justice Department to work out a procedure to ensure the timely mailing of ballots to service men and women in future elections.

The Justice Department claims that many military ballots weren't mailed on time for November's election. The department wanted Williams to order the state to count late ballots and issue an order requiring timely mailings for future elections.

The judge said Monday that counting the late ballots would not change the outcome of any races. He also said the state board and the Justice Department were better qualified than he to craft a solution.

For more details, return to PilotOnline.com later and read tomorrow's Virginian-Pilot.