Fairfax Electoral Board Acknowledges Positive Effects of FCDC Lawsuit

Responding to criticism of its handling of the November 2013 general election, on December 11, 2013, the Fairfax County Electoral Board issued a 33-page report supporting its decisions as in accordance with Virginia law and State Board of Election guidance. In it, the Electoral Board also acknowledged the positive effects of the FCDC lawsuit.

Cesar del Aguila, chairman of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, stated, “I am pleased that the lawsuit FCDC filed in October 2012 had a direct impact on the ability of every voter to make sure that his or her vote was counted in the recent election. As acknowledged in the report, as a result of our lawsuit, the Electoral Board changed its policy to require that the political parties and candidates receive non-confidential information about the voters on an Excel spreadsheet instead of forcing representatives to engage in a laborious and time wasting hand-copying of information. As a result, all political parties and candidates were able to contact voters in a timely manner to encourage them to make sure their provisionally-cast ballots were counted.”Del Aguila continued, “We also are gratified that our lawsuit and the resulting policy changes led the Electoral Board to reject attempts to disenfranchise voters due to bureaucratic errors by the Registrar’s Office in processing registration forms and errors by Election Officers in overseeing provisional ballot documentation. Voting is a fundamental right and the Electoral Board saw to it that every vote counted. We congratulate their diligent work.”The Electoral Board’s 33-page report is available here.

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