As Virginia’s State Board of Elections prepares to certify House of Delegates results Monday that the Department of Elections has serious questions about, an expert said it is possible that not all of the serious problems, which appear to date back years, have been exposed yet. WTOP learned Friday that at least 147 people in Stafford County and Fredericksburg voted in the wrong race Nov. 7, a Department of Elections investigation has confirmed so far. During a court hearing earlier last week, the state disclosed that a total of at least 384 registered voters were assigned to the wrong House district. The new details of the investigation showed that the issues confirmed during this limited investigation include voters tied to the 28th, 88th and now the 2nd House District. The Department of Elections disclosed Wednesday that at least 384 registered voters in the Fredericksburg area were misassigned one way or the other between the 28th House District and the 88th. The 28th District race is separated by just 82 votes and could determine which party controls the House of Delegates.
“I continue to look at this ‘at least’ number, so something really went wrong in House District 28 and the adjoining district, and when I look back at the election results I suspect that whatever was happening there was not isolated to the 2017 election,” Michael McDonald, an associate professor of political science at the University of Florida and a former George Mason University professor, said in an interview.
The Department of Elections generally has not audited the information entered into the state voter registration database by local elections officials, and only began using modern mapping technology on a limited basis last year. The current state investigation over the last two weeks or so has focused only on the Fredericksburg area, where the 28th District race is separated by just 82 votes and could determine which party controls the House of Delegates.
Full Article: As Va. sets to certify election results, expert says ‘something really went wrong’ | WTOP.