HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — As mail issues continue causing uncertainty across central Virginia, an official in Henrico is assuring the county’s residents don’t need to worry about their absentee ballots.
Virginia’s primary election is taking place on March 5 and Henrico County registrar Mark Coakley said that, while he is aware of the ongoing postal issues in the Richmond area, it hasn’t affected Henrico officials from sending or receiving absentee ballots.
“Any problems we’ve seen, it’s not been going out to the voters coming back in,” Coakley said. “The rates are lower, but again, the voters can be holding onto their ballots or just not voting for this election. I’ve heard more people do not get Christmas cards than absentee ballots.”
Coakley said permit numbers are used to track ballots going out to voters and back to his office. He said that, so far, the United States Postal Service has scanned more than 99% of their 13,000 ballots.
Coakley also said they’ve also been seeing an increase in walk-ins and drop off ballots in the last few months. Henrico resident Charmaine Dorsey said she always prefers voting in person and doesn’t plan on changing anytime soon.
“I have no interest in voting by mail, because of the problems that they’re having with getting the documentation out to the public,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey said that, much like many county residents, she’s used to casting their ballot in person but also aware not everyone has that same opportunity.
“People shouldn’t have to go through that and work too hard,” Dorsey said. “Then you have your elderly, they can’t get out and come to the voting office as I am today.”
Community member Octavia Shelton has one suggestion to address the ongoing problem.
“They should be priority mail, so the absentee ballots get to the voting place on time,” Shelton said. “That way, they can fill them out when they first get them and then put them right back in the mail. If they’ve got to bring them to the mail and office themselves, that’s what they should do.”
While issues in the county have been minimal, Coakley acknowledged that absentee ballots will be a huge influence for general elections in November and wants to make sure voters have complete confidence in the postal service.
