Interest in 2020 elections high, and options plentiful
Unprecedented number of absentee, mail-in votes expected
If you think discussions about the 2020 election are intense around your dinner table, try taking some of the phone calls Dianna Moorman is getting. Moorman, James City County’s director of elections, says numerous voters have complained angrily that there is no sample ballot on the county website.
Never mind that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence haven’t formally been renominated yet, or that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden hasn’t even announced his running mate. Minus that, and certification from the state on an official list of candidates and ballot measures, a sample ballot would be meaningless, Moorman says with a laugh.
“Tempers are much shorter than in years past,” she said. “We keep an even balance and a smile on our faces in the office, because we understand frustrations are high.”
Voting process begins
Moorman expects the sample ballots to be posted the first week of September and certainly before Sept. 11, a week before the election begins in the state. On Sept. 18, absentee, mailin and some early inperson voting start — a full 45 days before the Nov. 3 election date and ending on the Saturday before the election.
The process is already underway, as voters may request absentee or early voting applications.
Instructions for submitting a “Vote by Mail” application are available on the Virginia Department of Elections website at elections.virginia.gov/castinga-ballot/absentee-voting.
Application instructions are available at local government voter registrar’s offices, websites and by phone: Williamsburg (757220-6157), James City County (757-259-4949) and York County (757-8903440).
Lots of early voting expected
Primarily because of COVID-19, the number of voters expected to choose absentee, mail-in or early voting options in the area will be unprecedented. York County Voter Registrar Walt Latham expects up to 20,000 voters (or about 60% of the total voters in the county) will do so compared to just 3,600 in the 2016 election.
Williamsburg Director of Elections Tina Reitzel said that she has already received 500 ballot applications and expects at least 1,500 more. Moorman said more than 40,000 in James City County could choose the early options compared to 7,035 for the 2016 election.
Is early voting fair, accurate?
All of which begs several questions asked and debated by voters. Among them: “Will my absentee, mail-in or early in-person ballots be counted? Will they be tallied on election night? Could the system invite fraud?”
“The biggest misconception is that absentee ballots and ballots by mail do not count,” Reitzel said. “That is 100% false.
“All ballots mailed in are counted as long as they are filled in correctly and all of the information is provided. Absentee ballots do count.”
Moorman said that ballots mailed in or received early will be part of the election night totals. An official from each party will help the county “preprocess” such ballots, ensuring they are certified and then inserting them into a counting machine — some perhaps as early as six days before Nov. 3.
No one involved will have access to the vote count prior to 7 p.m. on election night, Moorman stresses, but says pre-processing the ballots will reduce the work to be done the day of the election.
Latham said, “I assume if we receive (a ballot) by Election Day it will be recorded by election night.”
In addition, by state law mail-in ballots received by the registrar’s offices by noon Nov. 6 will be counted in the final totals as long as they have been postmarked on or before Nov. 3. That’s true even if the election is a landslide.
“It’s a misconception that if an election is not a close race we will not count ballots,” Moorman said, reiterating that officials from both major parties run the election.
“That is absolutely false.”
Moorman added that rumors on social media that mail-in voting will lead to fraud — such as voting by deceased or non-registered persons — are incorrect.
“Anytime a voter requests an absentee ballot application, the registrar’s office then goes into the system, finds their record and verifies they are registered to vote in their locality,” she said. “Only then will a ballot be processed and mailed.”
In-person voting options
For those who want to do so in person, Williamsburg is offering early inperson curbside voting at the Municipal Building: 401 Lafayette St., from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m Monday-Friday and on two Saturdays (Oct. 24 and 31).
James City County’s Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on Sept. 1 to designate the Rec Center an office to handle in-person absentee voting.
York County is offering early in-person voting beginning Sept. 18 from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. at two locations: Washington Square in Grafton, 5322 George Washington Memory Highway; and Victory Village in Lightfoot, 6614 Mooretown Road.
Latham expects those two sites to increase in popularity beginning Sept. 18.
“You can go there and vote just like it’s Election Day,” he said.
“We’ve had two elections there where people could go in and vote, but not a lot of people have been showing up.
“Some of us are thinking people aren’t aware (those sites) are available for voting.”
If you prefer to exercise the time-honored tradition of voting at your neighborhood polling site on Election Day, Nov. 3, registrars in Williamsburg, James City County and York County say they expect all polling places to be open and fully staffed. Social distancing and enhanced sanitation measures will be in place.