Guest Column: Clarifying three misconceptions about voting

Early voting expanded to all six locations across Prince William County starting Sunday, Oct. 13.

Among all counties in Virginia, Prince William has the most weekend voting options, and all satellite voting locations are open longer than any county in Virginia. Alternatively, you can apply for a mail ballot until Oct. 25 at 5 p.m.

If you miss these options, you can still cast your ballot on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at your assigned polling place. Go to pwcvotes.org for locations, hours and more.

Beyond knowing how and where to vote, we have found that some voters have concerns rooted in speculation, conspiracies and misinformation. The election process is very secure with multiple redundancies and many security features. Here are some clarifications to questions we receive.

“How do I know the scanner is reading my ballot correctly?”

We tested more than 10,000 ballots this election. We ran test ballots through every scanner in use and verified that the scanned ballots matched the expected results. They matched 100% of the time, and the scanners are sealed after testing.

During the election, bipartisan election officers track check-in and vote totals. After the election, Virginia runs an audit of all 133 counties and cities to verify the results. Rigorous testing, state requirements and experienced professionals all make sure our ballot scanners work correctly.

“Do the voter rolls have lots of noncitizens? Are they voting?”

No. We complete more than 100,000 updates to the voter rolls and registration mailings each year. These updates are most commonly due to people moving.

We examined voters who were canceled because of their citizen status and found the number of voters canceled for this reason is typically only 10-15 voters per month out of 330,000 voters in the county. The reason these voters’ status was set to “non-citizen” is because they failed to check a box on a poorly designed DMV form, not because they were known illegal or residential aliens.

“Is voting by mail a secure process?”

Yes. Any ballot cast has a one-to-one relationship to a voter regardless of the voting method. If you vote by mail, your ballot is checked in just like when you go to an early voting site or an Election Day polling place. You can only receive a mail ballot if you request one, and it is only sent to your address.

Once a voter casts their ballot, they cannot vote again. The system is designed to prevent fraud and abuse. All mail voters in Prince William County can track their ballot online with BallotTrax, a free service that enables them to follow their ballot at every step.

I encourage you to vote with confidence knowing a team of three bipartisan Electoral Board members, more than 40 nonpartisan staff members and over 1,000 bipartisan election officers do the diligent work of executing a fair election with many voting options.

If you have questions or need help, please rely on official information at pwcvotes.org or call us at (703) 792-6470. Our team is dedicated to upholding the law and to helping you.

Eric Olsen is director of the Prince William County Office of Elections.