11K Voter Registrations Dumped On Fairfax County Registrar By State

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT) had a Halloween surprise for Fairfax County election officials.

On Monday, the Fairfax County Office of Elections unexpectedly received 11,000 new voter registration applications from ELECT, according to a county release.

The new registrations were from voters who filled out applications over the summer at the Department of Motor Vehicles from May to September of this year. ELECT sent the 149,000 voter registrations to the state's 133 general registrars on Monday.

All affected voters will be able to vote, according to an ELECT release. The state's new election law ensures that new voters can register up to and including Election Day.

“I am very grateful for the vigilance of Virginia’s general registrars in quickly surfacing concerns during early voting,” said Susan Beals, elections commissioner, in a release. “With information from local officials, ELECT’s IT professionals were able to scour the election system data to identify the additional transactions for processing. I’m pleased that all affected voters are able to vote and that anyone with questions or concerns can reach out to us directly so that we may assist them as we near Election Day.”

Fairfax County's new 11,000 voter registrations join the 11,789 the state already had sent the county on Oct. 5. Local election officials said they processed the previous batch of registrations before the deadline in October and would work to ensure the new batch was processed before Election Day.

“Here we are again,” said Fairfax County Democratic Committee Chair Bryan Graham, in a release. “The flailing Youngkin Administration has once again proven that they either don’t know what they’re doing or are willfully neglecting their duties to the people of the Commonwealth.”

Graham added he was confident the Fairfax County registrar could handle the task at hand, "but I worry that we don’t know if this is the end of ELECT’s malfeasance."

Just last week, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously called for a state investigation after 31,000 mailers with incorrect information from ELECT were sent to voters within towns of Fairfax and Prince William counties.

About 25,000 of the mailings were sent to the towns of Clifton, Herndon, and Vienna in Fairfax County, according to Fairfax's elections office. The mailings directed voters in those three towns to vote at an address in the City of Fairfax.

Voters who are not on the list of registered voters will still be able to submit a same-day registration at their polling place on Nov. 8. Provided they accurately fill out the same-day registration in its entirety, they'll be able to cast a provisional ballot.

Voters are encouraged to check their registration status online or by call the Fairfax County Office of Elections at 703-222-0776, TTY 711. Residents can find more information about the Nov. 8 election and voting at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/elections.

Voters may confirm their polling place by visiting Vote.Elections.Virginia.gov/VoterInformation. Questions about polling places may be directed to the Fairfax County Office of Elections at 703-222-0776 or voting@fairfaxcounty.gov.