Several changes are underway at the Richmond Office of Elections after officials discovered that 283 incorrect ballots were provided to voters in multiple districts at the start of early voting. 

Director of Elections and General Registrar David Levine said Friday that ballots distributed in precincts 310, 505 and 607 were printed with the wrong candidates for the House of Delegates race. The precincts include the Gilpin area, Oregon Hill, parts of Downtown Richmond and the Virginia Commonwealth University campus. 

While 278 of the ballots were mailed to voters, Levine later confirmed that five were received and submitted in-person before officials found the error and alerted the public. 

“We clearly made a mistake, and it’s going to impact five voters,” Levine said Monday, adding that the office’s processes would prevent other incorrect ballots from being scanned. “But five incorrect ballots is five more than what we want, no way around that.” 

The incorrect ballots were focused on races for incumbent House Dels. Rae Cousins and Betsy Carr and their challengers, Kelsey Linnehan and Richard Prado. 

Levine said multiple House candidates have reached out to the office after the announcement but did not provide names. The news also raised concerns for the Richmond Branch NAACP, whose leader, James Minor, said work is underway to address the mistake after the the group received multiple calls about the incorrect ballots. 

“We want to know why is this happening and how are we as a community and the registrar’s office in partnership, how are we going to correct this situation?” Minor said. “Because we cannot afford to give folks the wrong ballots. We just can’t afford to do that.” 

This is not the first time the Registrar’s Office has faced ballot problems during an election season. Last November, 11 residents voting in person at the Calhoun Community Center on Election Day received incorrect ballots for federal races, leading to the firing of a poll official. Similar issues occurred during the 2022 election. 

Photos by Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press 

An early voter claims a souvenir at the Eastern Henrico voting location on Nine Mile Road. 

The Office of Elections is reviewing its proofing, printing and verification processes to find the source of the error, Levine said, with additional checks, staff training and oversight planned for implementation. 

New ballots will be sent to voters in the affected precincts, who can choose to wait for them in the mail or cast a provisional ballot at the Office of Elections. Any incorrect ballots already returned by mail will be set aside in a secure location, and corrected ballots will be sent to those voters. 

Voters with questions can email voter@ rva.gov, visit.rva.gov/elections or call (804) 646-5950 for more information. 

Photo by Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press 

On Friday, Sept. 19 Abigail Spanberger, Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, marked the first day of early in-person voting by casting her ballot and greeting voters at the Western Henrico voting location off Parham Road.