Virginia House of Delegates Control In Flux (Updated)

UPDATE: The state Board of Elections certified the elections Monday in two Fredericksburg-area House of Delegates races. Let the recounts begin.

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — Three weeks after Virginia's off-year elections, recounts and wrongly assigned voters in the Fredericksburg area has left control of the state's House of Delegates in a decided flux. The Virginia State Board of Elections ostensibly will certify the results Monday but issues and potential legal actions present quite the head-scratcher.

According to the Washington Post, former Fredericksburg registrar Juanita Pitchford inexplicably moved 83 voters from one district to another, affecting the 28th and 88th districts. Pitchford died last April, so know seems to know why.

Democrats were outnumbered 66-24 before the elections but by the time ballots were counted on election night, Democratic victories flipped a number of seats, bringing the Republican majority to a slim 51-49. That left three tight races eligible for a recount. If Democrats would succeed in one of the recounts, the parties would tie for a majority. Two or three victories would let Democrats squeak by to control the House.

All three have 100 percent of precincts reporting totals, but the results are close enough for a recount. Virginia does not have automatic recounts, but a losing candidate can ask for a recount if the difference is no more than 1 percent.

WTOP has reported that that at least 147 people in Stafford County and Fredericksburg voted in the wrong race. During a court hearing, 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."

In the 88th District, Del. Mark Cole (R-Fredericksburg) at Steve Aycock (D) by around 4,000 votes but the win has yet to be certified.

In the 28th District, Robert Thomas (R) leads Joshua Cole (D) by 82 votes for the vacated seat of William Howell (R-Stafford). A recount is likely.

In two other close races, Del. Tim Hugo (R-Fairfax) leads Donte Tanner (d) by 106 votes, and Del. David Yancey (R-Newport News) leads Shelly Simonds (D) by 10 votes.

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