‘It doesn’t matter’
by Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
At several polling stations across Spotsylvania today, sample ballots with misleading information continued to be find their way into voters’ hands.
At Battlefield Elementary School late this afternoon, the Advance was handed a yellow sample ballot with the header “Republican Sample Ballot,” and the man distributing the document referred to it as “a ballot from the Republican side.”
There was no printed statement saying who paid for it, and both Matt Strickland and Nick Ignacio were identified as candidates to vote for. Neither has the endorsement of the Spotsylvania County Republican Committee.
The Advance returned to the gentleman distributing the sample ballot and asked why it carries the “Republican Sample Ballot” header when it is not the official ballot of the Republican Committee and contains misleading information – Matt Strickland is not endorsed by the Republican Party.
“But he is running for a write-in campaign,” the man responded.
The Advance reiterated that Strickland was not endorsed by the party, to which the individual passing out the sample ballot responded: “It doesn’t matter … because … we’re not telling anybody this is an official ballot.”
Asked how a person is to understand his earlier statement that he’s handing out a sample “ballot from the Republican side,” his response was: “I apologize if you didn’t like the way” I presented the material. He then went on to suggest that a line of other people were doing the same thing and we should speak with them.
None of the sample ballots we reviewed purporting to be put forward by the Democratic Committee contained misleading information.
Just down Courthouse Road from Battlefield Elementary at the Eastland United Methodist Church polling station, Mark Houghton, who was handing out sample ballots for candidates endorsed by the Democratic Committee, shared another misleading ballot he had witnessed distributed earlier in the day.
This one was being circulated by Nick Ignacio, according to Houghton. It was labeled “Spotsylvania Republican Voters” and identified both Ignacio and Roy Searles, who is running for Board of Supervisors, as the candidates of choice. Neither Searles nor Ignacio were at the polling station at the time.
Finding Loopholes
The Advance spoke with Ben Litchfield about whether the State Code of Virginia allows sample ballots that don’t have a disclaimer saying who paid for it.
“Unfortunately,” Litchfield said, one doesn’t have to say who paid for the publication if it’s less than $1,000 for a statewide candidate, or less than $200 for everyone else, per Virginia State code 24.2-955.1.
According to the gentleman we received the misleading sample ballot from, it cost less than $200 to produce and was produced by an individual.
More to Come
The Advance will be posting live election results as they become available all evening. Stay with the Advance as we continue to cover 2023’s local elections.
New Dominion Podcast
Marty Davis and Shaun Kenney discuss GEICO’s recent firing of 10% of its workforce at random, share their pre-election predictions, how institutions forfeit the public trust, why No Child Left Behind was a bad idea, and how HSAs and HDIPs could save health care.
Support Local Journalism
The FXBG Advance is off and running, but we can’t do this without your help. You can support local journalism here in Fredericksburg by donating $8 a month. Your dollars will go toward hiring journalists so that we can broaden our reach and strengthen our coverage.
The content is now, and will continue to be, free.
Help us bring aboard the journalists who will elevate our coverage and strengthen the community we all share.
Consider joining for $8 monthly, $80 yearly, or becoming a supporting member for $200 or a Founding Member for $500.
Thank you for reading and supporting FXBG Advance.
-Martin Davis, Editor
