WASHINGTON — QUESTION:
If a voter decides not to vote for a candidate in a race on the ballot, will the ballot still be counted?
ANSWER:
Yes, in DC, Maryland and Virginia.
SOURCES:
Alice Miller- DC Board of Elections- Executive Director
Jessica Bowman- Virginia Department of Elections- Deputy Commissioner
Maryland State Board of Elections- spokesperson
PROCESS:
Even if you’re following every twist and turn of the presidential election, you may have missed some of the local races and issues.
That’s leading to some confusion online over whether you have to pick a candidate for every race on the ballot.
So we're verifying: If you leave parts of your ballot blank, will it still count?
Our researchers started by asking election officials in DC, Maryland and Virginia, who all confirmed that if you leave something blank, your ballot will still count.
"Voters can choose not to vote in some races; this does not affect the validity of a ballot," Jessica Bowman, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Elections said.
A spokesperson for the State Board of Elections in Maryland agreed.
"You do not have to cast a vote on every race/question on your ballot in order for your ballot to count," they said.
"You don't have to complete anything, voters’ choice," Alice Miller, Executive Director at DC Board of Elections, said. "Some voters just want voter history, and voter history means that they participated in the election, they could choose to vote nothing or they can vote for as little or as much as they want on a ballot. That’s why you will see on the ballot it says vote for 'no more than' it doesn't say 'vote for two.' It says vote for 'no more than.'"
You can look at the DC sample ballots here, notice that each selection says you can vote for "no more than," rather than a set number.
RELATED: VERIFY: Do you have to use a black ink pen on mail-in ballots in DC, Maryland and Virginia?
So we can Verify, yes, in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, you can leave some of your ballot blank, you don't have to vote in every race for it to be counted.
If you want to learn more about the candidates and issues on the ballot, the WUSA9 team compiled a list of what you can expect on the ballot in each jurisdiction: