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UPDATE: Rep. Scott Rigell requests court order for paper ballots after reports of voting issues

Posted at 9:47 AM, Nov 04, 2014
and last updated 2014-11-04 23:31:46-05

UPDATE: The Scott Rigell for Congress campaign has formally demanded that the Virginia Beach Voter Registrar switch to paper ballots after they say several issues have been reported. 

They say over 40 precincts in the district have reported that voters who tried to cast a ballot for Rigell were instead counted for his opponent. 

"In my more than two decades of being involved in the political process, I have never seen such a systemic failure of our voting machines here in Hampton Roads.  Sadly, today marks a first," says the Rigell campaign.

He is now encouraging voters to check their summary pages on their voting cards before submitting a final vote. They say to make sure that you're 100% certain that everything you've chosen is correct before leaving your polling place. 

Virginia Beach, Va. - The Republican Party of Virginia, as well as Representative Scott Rigell posted Tweets early  warning voters about polling machine issues in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District.

City of Virginia Beach: “Check your ballot before you finish voting”

The 2nd Congressional District covers all of Virginia Beach, Accomack and Northampton Counties and parts of Hampton and Norfolk.

Statement on Congressman Scott Rigell's Claim of Reported Voter Irregularities

VIRGINIA BEACH – Following Congressman Scott Rigell's press conference today on voter irregularities being reported to his campaign headquarters, the Suzanne Patrick for Congress campaign released the following statement.

"Virginia has elections every year and we trust that the Department of Elections is doing everything it can to ensure accuracy during the voting process," said campaign manager Michelle Gajewski. "We will, of course, work with election officials to ensure this accuracy. Our campaign has gotten a very low and limited number of reports about difficulties casting ballots today. In all cases, the problem was resolved quickly and the voter walked away satisfied that each had cast his or her ballot successfully. If voters experience any voting irregularities, they should call the Virginia Department of Elections at 804-864-8901."

Below is a partial list of precincts reporting problems, according to the Office of Scott Rigell.

Bayside Centerville Dahlia London Bridge
Great Neck Alanton Linkhorn Upton
Stratford Chase Witchduck Hunt Tallwood
Kingston Sherry Park Lake Christopher Larksburg
Colonial Homestead North Beach Corporate Landing

According to Donna Patterson of the Office of the Virginia Beach Registrar, officials have received "a few calls" regarding complaints from "three to four different polling places, in which the summary screen did not match who they voted for." According to Patterson, "all of those machines have been taken out of order until a technician can resolve the problem. All machines went through normal testing before Election Day and their technicians will try to figure out what the problem is with this handful of machines."

This is not a city-wide issue, Patterson added, but officials are encouraging all voters to review the summary screen before submitting the actual vote.

The Virginia Department of Elections has also responded, saying voters in both Virginia Beach and Newport News are experiencing technical difficulties with their AccuVote TSX Touch Screen machines. They say the technical difficulties appear to be related to touch screen calibration and are being addressed by teams of voting equipment technicians in conjunction with AccuVote vendors.

They also note that both localities have sufficient voting machines at each precinct for voting to continue without delay.

Check back on WTKR.com as the story develops.