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Virginia special election slowed by wrong-sized ballots

The Prince William County Office of Elections says the issue has been resolved

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — A special election in Prince William County, Virginia got off to a rough start after it was discovered that ballots were too wide to fit into ballot scanners. The ballots printed for Tuesday's election were too wide by 1/16 of an inch.

Eric Olsen, Director of Elections in Prince William County, said the issue has been resolved. He said as soon as the office was notified at the opening of the polls at 6 a.m., the chief officers at each precinct and office staff worked to reprint ballots that were the correct size. New ballots were printed at both the precincts and the main office of elections. The ballots printed at the precincts were used until the main office could print a larger number of ballots and deliver them where needed.

"Regarding the few ballots that were unable to scan in the early hours of the day, our officers followed protocol with securely collecting those, and they will be hand-counted at the end of the night as part of final reporting procedures," Olsen said in a statement.

According to Olsen, most precincts only received about five of the wrong-sized ballots before replacement ballots were printed and delivered. 

"All backup procedures were followed, no voters were turned away, and everyone who came to vote was able to successfully cast a ballot," Olsen said.

The issue has been resolved and voting will continue as normal through the close of polls at 7 p.m.

The special election is for the Gainesville District seat on the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors. Republican Bob Weir and Democrat Kerensa Sumers are running to fill the remainder of Supervisor Pete Candland's term. Candland resigned in December. 

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