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Judge says Spotsylvania candidate must stop distributing misleading sample ballots

The investigation started after a resident told WUSA9 he felt he was being misled into voting for the wrong candidate.

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. — With less than two weeks until the election, a judge has weighed in after WUSA9 highlighted a Spotsylvania man who said he was misled by sample ballots given out by a polling place.

The ballots in question – a blue one labeled as Spotsylvania Democrats sample ballot; a red one labeled as Spotsylvania Republican voters sample ballot.

But here’s the thing, they are not the official endorsed candidates for the two parties. And one name on both of the ballots is Nick Ignacio.

“It’s a sample ballot. It’s a suggestion. That’s all it is at the end of the day," said Nick Ignacio, candidate for Clerk of Court. “We have a right to look at the candidates and say we believe this candidate will serve the people the best."

But the ballots have created confusion for voters like Pablo Cuadrado, who told WUSA9 last week that he felt duped into voting for Ignacio.

“Why do you have to cheat to win? It’s ugly,” Cuadrado said. 

Now, a judge has weighed in – granting an injunction against Ignacio – mandating that he more clearly label the ballots as being from a candidate and prohibiting him from producing any election material paid for by his group,  the Fredericksburg Virginia Patriots.

Republican prosecutor Ryan Mehaffey filed the petition, and he railed against the ballots as misleading, even though they endorsed him for commonwealth attorney.

“The advertisement in my mind is indefensible,” Mehaffey said. "What I filed the injunction to do is to make Mr. Ignacio comply with the Stand by Your Ad laws and put his name at the bottom so that the voters can decide by themselves what credibility should be given to that advertisement."

Meanwhile, Ignacio is firing back, arguing that Mehaffey is using his public position as deputy commonwealth attorney to stifle free speech. But Mehaffey argues he’s doing this as a concerned citizen, and not as a politician.

WUSA9 asked Ignacio: "Any sympathy for somebody that says 'blue means Democrat, red means Republican. I’m assuming these are the endorsements for the party.' So they vote that way and then they end up not voting for the who the party is endorsing. Any sympathy for the person that does that?”  

Ignacio replied: "Yeah, 100%. If someone feels that they are misled, that’s not OK. Absolutely, that’s not OK. We don’t want to mislead anyone. I tell everyone, this is an independent sample ballot."

Meanwhile, Ignacio is still handing out pamphlets, but he says he believes he’s fixed the problems. He’s added a disclaimer in the corner that says "paid for by friends of Nick Ignacio."

He also says he’s used a bigger font, which he hopes will avoid confusion.

Mehaffey said the change may put him into compliance legally, but he says ethically – it’s “indefensibly deceptive.” 

WATCH NEXT: Voter says unofficial sample ballot was misleading

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