UPDATED: County scrambles to replace about $8K worth of wrong-sized ballots in Gainesville special election

UPDATED: New, slightly narrower paper ballots were on the way to all 14 polling places in the Gainesville District by about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to replace thousands of pre-printed ballots that proved to be just a little too wide to fit through Prince William County's optic ballot scanners.

About $8,000 worth of ballots had to be replaced for the Tuesday, Feb. 21 special election to fill the vacant Gainesville District seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, according to Prince William County Registrar Eric Olsen.

"We will certainly be contacting our printer for a refund," Olsen said in an interview Tuesday morning.

About 648 ballots had already been cast in early voting prior to today’s special election – a contest between Republican Bob Weir and Democrat Kerensa Sumers.

The two are vying to fill the last nine months of the term vacated by former Gainesville District supervisor Peter Candland (R) who resigned last December due to conflict of interest concerns. Candland and his wife, Robyn, signed a contract to sell their home and 5 acres on Livia Drive to Compass data centers, one of two data center developers with rezoning applications to develop the massive Prince William Digital Gateway data center corridor just north of Manassas National Battlefield Park.

The county's Office of Elections was scrambling to print about 5,600 ballots -- or 400 for each of the 14 polling places -- early Tuesday when it was discovered the ballots were about 1/16 of an inch too wide to fit through the scanners, Olsen said.

Meanwhile, poll workers were able to print some ballots at the polling places while they waited for the new ballots to arrive, Olsen said.

Voting on the wrong-sized ballots could not be completely avoided, however. About 20 votes cast on the too-wide ballots had to be deposited into "emergency ballot boxes," said Virginia B. Cantu, the election chief at the Heritage Hunt polling place.

There were likely about 20 such ballots at each of the polling places. Those ballots will be hand-counted at each polling place when polls close tonight at 7 p.m., Olsen said.

The Heritage Hunt polling place was one of the first to receive the new ballots, accorging to election chief Virginia B. Cantu.

"It was a tiny hiccup, and we've been rocking and rolling ever since," Cantu said.

Olsen said he wasn't sure why the ballots were the wrong size. The county’s Office of Elections used the same printer for today’s election as they did last fall, when there were no ballot issues, Olsen said.

Heritage Hunt was especially busy on Tuesday, where many residents have strong feelings about the Prince William Digital Gateway, a massive new data center corridor proposed for 2,139 acres just east of Heritage Hunt and north of the Manassas National Battlefield Park.

Overall turnout in Tuesday's special election is expected to be less than 10% -- or fewer than 400 voters at each of the 14 polling places, Olsen said.

By about 11 a.m., 366 voters had already cast ballots at Heritage Hunt, Cantu said.

Weir, 60, a Haymarket Town Councilman and a researcher for a consultant company, has been a vocal critic of the county’s growing data center development, particularly as it has reached into the area formerly known as the rural crescent.

The Digital Gateway is slated for an area where industrial development was formerly prohibited and residential development was limited to one home per 10 acres.

Weir has garnered support from both Republicans and Democrats involved in the opposition to the Digital Gateway and other controversial data center projects, including the Devlin Technology Park, a developent of up to 14 data centers slated near homes and schools in Bristow.

Weir has served 11 non-consecutive years on the Haymarket Town Council and was re-elected in 2022. He also served on the Haymarket Planning Commission.  He is a graduate of the University of Virginia, and he and his wife have raised three children in Prince William County.   

Sumers, 39, has attracted the financial support of Digital Gateway landowners and developers with data center projects before the county, including Stanley Martin, which is developing the Devlin Technology Park.

Sumers lives in the Manassas area of Prince William County. She works as a support coordinator with Loudoun County’s Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Developmental services, providing case management for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. 

Prior to joining Loudoun County, Sumers worked in a similar capacity in Prince William County. Sumers is a graduate of the University of Mary Washington and a mother of one.   

Polls are open until 7 p.m. in today's election.

Reach Jill Palermo at jpalermo@fauquier.com