News

Actions

Ballots with candidates already marked mistakenly mailed out to Hampton voters

Posted at 1:42 PM, Feb 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-22 19:01:26-05

Hampton, Va. – Some voters who requested absentee ballots in Hampton were surprised by what showed up in the mail recently.

A candidate was already selected on their ballots for the Virginia Presidential Primary.

According to Hampton Voter Registrar Tara Morgan, the ballots that were mistakenly mailed out were supposed to be used to test the voting machines.

There were about 17 test ballots mailed to voters.  Morgan says both Republican and Democratic ballots were affected.

Morgan says the city is using a new vendor which contributed to the mix-up.  The city usually makes their own test ballots, according to Morgan, and they did not realize the company was sending them test ballots along with absentee ballots.

Morgan says they are reaching out to everyone who was affected and will be working with them to make sure they are still able to cast a ballot.

A representative from the state office was in Hampton Monday morning meeting with the registrar about the issue.