Democratic candidate Jennifer Wexton claimed victory in a special election Tuesday for the 33rd Virginia Senate district in Northern Virginia, which was vacated in December when Attorney General Mark Herring won statewide office.
Wexton defeated both Republican candidate John Whitbeck and Independent candidate Joe T. May with 53 percent of the vote. Whitbeck received 38 percent of the vote, while May received less than ten percent.
Confusion about voting eligibility in Loudoun County and some parts of Fairfax county caused contention in the election — particularly voter cards predating redistricting in 2011, Loudon Registrar Judy Brown said.
“People were not familiar with what district they were in,” Brown said. “They were carrying old voter cards that indicated that they were in the 33rd district.”
The candidates’ campaigns may also have contributed to the confusion.
“People [not in the 33rd district] were reporting they were getting calls from the candidates encouraging them to vote,” Brown said.
Further complications arose because May has long represented the 33rd House of Delegates district, which overlaps, but does not align with the 33rd Senate district. Some voters in the house district he formerly represented believed that they could vote in the election.
Snowfall also played a role in the the voter confusion. Because of unexpected weather conditions, schools throughout Loudoun County and Fairfax County were closed, some of which were polling locations.
The registrar anticipated confusion and sent out notices to remind the voters that the polling stations were still open.
“We put out a press release and send out a text release [about] the snow to indicate that the polling places were open,” Brown said. “We should have specified that this only applied to voters in the 33rd [Senate] district.”
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