RICHMOND — Three hours into Virginia’s Jan. 10 special election, Lynchburg's First Presbyterian Church election officials already had called the registrar’s office asking for more ballots, foreshadowing the chaos that would arise throughout the day.
That precinct would host the highest turnout in the city at 33 percent for the 22nd Senate District special election won by Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg. Although the registrar’s office only ordered enough ballots for 5 percent of registered voters citywide, actual turnout reached 17 percent for the 11 city precincts within the 22nd District.
The ballot shortage forced people to vote on handicap-accessible machines and on photocopied ballots. Because these machines are kept in fewer numbers, voters lined up out the door in some precincts, and some left in frustration. Each photocopied emergency ballot must be counted by hand.
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After hearing from upset voters citywide, state Sen. Steve Newman, R-Bedford County, plans to submit a bill to the 2017 General Assembly so no registrar comes up short again.
“At first, I think people were trying to associate a motive, and I just told people I don’t think that is correct,” Newman said, calling Lynchburg City Registrar Karen Patterson “a very fine lady” who he knows “very well.”
The legislation would order the State Board of Elections to require local registrars issue a certain percentage of ballots for special elections, Newman said. He asked for the bill to be written late last week, and it was not yet on the Virginia legislative website Tuesday.
The Lynchburg Registrar’s Office and electoral board ordered a total 1,350 printed ballots for the city.
As it turned out, that was too few for even the combined total of the two city precincts with the highest vote totals. At First Presbyterian and Bedford Hills alone, 1,893 voters cast ballots. In total, 4,825 votes were cast in the city that day.
“When Goochland and Appomattox and Amherst [counties] get it close to being right, then maybe some of that knowledge should be redirected to everyone, so that we know better how many ballots to print,” Newman said.
Amherst County ordered enough ballots for 25 percent of its registered voters and fielded a 17 percent turnout. Appomattox County ordered enough ballots for 50 percent of its registered voters with a 19 percent turnout.
A new state requirement without state money attached to fund it may rankle some local registrars.
“We do have to be guardians of taxpayer funding, and you don’t want to send $10,000 worth of ballots to a shredder down the road after the election is over. To define a formula, I would not have an issue with that, although the localities should have the best feel for what their historical turnout has been,” said Bedford County Registrar Barbara Gunter, who is a Voter Registrars Association of Virginia board member and former association president.
On Tuesday, she said she had not seen Newman’s bill and couldn't comment specifically.
Setting a single percentage statewide could be problematic, Gunter said, because some localities turn out in much higher numbers than others.
Lynchburg Registrar Karen Patterson said her office did not have many special elections to choose from in making a determination of how many ballots to order, and that guidance could have helped.
The legislature redrew the 22nd Senate District prior to the 2011 election won by Rep. Tom Garrett, R-5th District. He represented the district until his resignation resulted in the Jan. 10 special election.
In 2006, Democrat Shannon Valentine won a contested special election in House of Delegates District 23. The city turned out 33 percent of voters for the 2006 election, according to Department of Elections numbers. The district, now represented by Del. Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg, also was significantly redrawn in 2010 and no longer includes the entire city.
Patterson did not have readily available details on which elections her office considered when making the 5 percent calculation. In March 2016, though, her office lost $4,000 by printing excess ballots for the presidential primary, she said. She could have checked with other registrars to better estimate the ratio for Jan. 10, she said.
“You never know how many people are going to show up for an election. It’s at best, a best guestimate,” Patterson said Tuesday morning having not seen the bill. “… A lot of elections, Lynchburg doesn’t have a good turnout. There is no formula.”
Contact Alex Rohr at arohr@newsadvance.com. Find him on Twitter: @arohr_reporter.