Chesterfield County is preparing for Election Day after a primary election saw a ballot shortage and controversial voter complaint.
Several precincts in a major Richmond suburb ran out of Democratic ballots in February's Virginia primary. Chesterfield ordered 299 voters to write their candidate's name on scrap paper, but the State Board of Elections rejected the makeshift ballots.
One of those 299 voters was Chesterfield resident and teacher Keshia Anderson. She filed a complaint with the Department of Justice and recently testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
While her vote did not count in the primary, Anderson said she hopes Chesterfield officials are now paying attention, specifically Chesterfield County Registrar Lawrence Haake III.
Anderson said Haake did not uphold his duty to get the ballots counted.
"I think they're paying attention now," said Anderson. "When I made a complaint I was frustrated. (Haake) should be held accountable for every ballot."
Haake regretted the issues that arose during primary season, but has focused on the future. When asked about the complaint, he had a mixed response.
"One word: frivolous," said Haake. "We've said repeatedly that we regret it, but not a single one of those people has ever called to talk to me."
Anderson acknowledged that she has not attempted to speak with Haake and said she does not intend to. Instead, Anderson went to higher authorities and seeks accountability from Haake, who she feels has hindered Chesterfield's voting process on more than one occasion.
"He still hasn't stood up and said, 'I'm responsible,' and he has not apologized for running out of ballots," Anderson said. "Hopefully (my complaint) will do something with Haake. How long are we going to continue to let him make mistakes? Every election something happens."
Chesterfield County also had problems handling the turnout in the presidential election year of 2004. Anderson felt the previous issues should have already inspired an improvement in preparation.
"They know in the past that there has been a large voter turnout. Why didn't they do something about it in the primary?" Anderson said. "It was not like no one knew. All across America, you knew people had been paying attention. You had to be anticipating a lot of people."
Haake said the county has taken all appropriate measures to ensure a smooth general election in 2008.
"We have split four precincts since that time, in other words, taken four large precincts and created four new ones," Haake said. "There are fewer people trying to get into the same place. We also have four new polling places -- four better facilities."
This is designed to help with both ballot distribution and parking, two major barriers voters encountered in February's primary.
Anderson is still fearful that these changes could cause problems for affected voters.
"I'm scared. I think some people may get confused," Anderson said. "We got new voter registration cards, but some people may not pay attention to the change."
Rosemarie Hart has been a member of the Chesterfield Electoral Board since March and is among the leaders focusing on making the election smooth for all voters.
Hart said notices and maps have already been distributed in the districts that were affected by polling changes.
"We have sent out notices and maps to the people affected," Hart said.
Despite what should be shorter lines, Anderson feels that it is an imperfect solution.
"First of all, I have to drive through two other precincts to get to mine," Anderson said. "I drive by my old polling place. That doesn't make sense. Hopefully I won't have to wait as long, and hopefully people won't get discouraged, but I think it's going to cause confusion when it's time to vote."
Haake expects 80 percent to 85 percent turnout for 2008's election, an increase from 74 percent voter turnout in the county in 2004's presidential election. However, Chesterfield is preparing for turnout to exceed all expectations.
Hart said there would be no recurrence of ballot shortages for the upcoming election.
"We have been working hard to ensure that doesn't happen again," Hart said. "We will actually order more than 125 percent of the ballots needed compared to our registered voters."
Extra ballots were available during the primary season, but the few that remained had to be delivered, missing many of the voters. Hart could not comment definitively, but hoped that all extra ballots would be distributed among the precincts.
In the most populous areas of the county, electronic polling books will be used to streamline check in and speed up the voter process.
Hart explained how 16 polling places plan to use this technology.
"When you come in, rather than having a written book and dividing everyone into sections of the alphabet, we will have four electronic poll books, and voters will go to the next available machine, very much like a bank teller," Hart said.
Anderson said that communication is the biggest improvement needed.