Election Integrity Working Group | Fairfax GOP
At the May 12 meeting of the Fairfax County Electoral Board, General Registrar Eric Spicer announced more improvements for Election Office operations. Spicer took on the General Registrar job on March 28, after the Electoral Board (a 2-1 Democratic majority) unanimously accepted the resignation of the prior General Registrar Scott Konopasek on March 24, 2022.
Watch Your Mail for Redistricting Information
Spicer reported that the Fairfax County redistricting updates are now complete. A redistricting mailing will be sent to all registered voters with their updated district and precincts. Take a close look at the mailing when you receive it. You may be in a new Congressional District, House of Delegates District, Virginia Senate District, or Precinct. All updates are in the Elections Office Citizens Portal.
You should know your correct Precinct because you are required to vote there if you vote on Election Day.
You should know your correct Congressional District so you can support your congressional candidate as soon as he or she is nominated. Keep an eye out for that mailing!
You Can Help Clean Voter Rolls – In One Easy Step
If you receive the redistricting mailings at your house for people who don’t live there, don’t throw them away! The voter registration list in Virginia is sometimes out-of-date and inaccurate. You can help clean the voter rolls. Here are the instructions from the Office of Elections:
“Residents receiving the redistricting or any election mail addressed to another person should simply mark it “return to sender” and a note indicating that the addressee does not live there (the same as they would do for any first class mail addressed to someone who doesn’t live at that address) and put it out for the mail carrier to pick up. We can’t make status changes in the database based on a phone call nor (generally) from an email message that isn’t from the voter. Confirmation mailings will be triggered when mail is returned as undeliverable to the addressee.”
And please take few minutes to email the Fairfax GOP Election Integrity Working Group about the incident at ei@fairfaxgop.org so we can keep track of possible discrepancies in the voter registration list.
Greater Public Access to Electoral Board Meetings
The Office of Elections now has a new conferencing system installed for Electoral Board meetings. In the past, although the Board always provided a zoom link for the meeting, viewers often couldn’t hear or see what was going on. The new system provides greater public transparency for Board meetings for every voter in the county.
You can get on the regular mailing list for notice of upcoming Electoral Board meetings by contacting the Clerk of the Electoral Board Beth Methfessel at 703.324.4740 or emailing beth.methfessel@fairfaxcounty.gov.
Spicer and the Electoral Board also improved public access to the Board’s monthly meeting reports which provide updates for voting registration statistics and changes in election operations. In the past, voters had to contact the Clerk to request the documents by email. Now the monthly meeting documents will be posted online for each meeting. The documents for the May 12, 2022 meeting are here.
Greater transparency for election decision-making is needed because polls show a majority of Americans are concerned about election integrity issues. A January 2022 ABC/IPSOS poll found that only “20% of the public says it’s very confident in the country’s elections.” A May 2021 Reuters/IPSOS poll found that “75% of adults felt it was ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ important that ‘the government place new limits on voting to protect elections from fraud.’ At the same time, 82% wanted the government to ‘make it easier for people to vote.'”
The polls suggest Americans want elections where it’s “easy to vote and hard to cheat,” the goal of the Fairfax County Republican Party’s election integrity efforts and of voters nationwide.
Language Officers Needed for Elections: Do You Speak Vietnamese or Korean?
Spicer has initiated a new $25 one-time referral bonus for Election Officers who can also serve as Language Officers. You must first become an Election Officer to serve as a Language Officer. Language Officers are needed who speak Spanish, Vietnamese or Korean. Language Officers proficient in Vietnamese and Korean are especially needed. If you or someone you know can serve as a language officer, contact the Fairfax County Election Office at 703-324-4735 or email elect@fairfaxcounty.gov.
Election Officer Hands-On Training
The Office of Elections will provide Equipment Practice Sessions on June 6. Existing election officers can log in to the Election Officer Portal, go to the Training page, and sign up for an Equipment Practice Session time slot there. New applicants must first complete their paperwork appointment with the Fairfax County Office of Elections before they can access the Election Officer Portal, but then they can do the same. Additional training sessions will be provided in the coming months.
Sign Up to Be an Election Officer
If you’re not yet an Election Officer for the November 8, 2022 election, now is a great time to apply. You need to be a registered voter in Virginia. The Fairfax County Office of Elections provides information on serving as an Election Officer here – and the application here.
After applying, you will receive an email with a link to the online scheduler to make an appointment to complete your notarized oath, direct deposit form and I-9 form. The email will explain the required ID you must present. The Office of Elections is located at 12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 323, Fairfax, VA.. You can review all available times and select the best time that works for you.
Once you have applied, contact Andi Bayer (apmjt.bayer@verizon.net), the Fairfax GOP Election Officer Outreach Coordinator. Andi will need to approve you to serve as a Republican Election Officer.
Reforms at Office of Elections Since March 2022
As previously reported, General Registrar Eric Spicer has already instituted several reforms, reversing controversial decisions and policies that his predecessor instituted for the 2021 election.
“These are welcome changes that will strengthen election integrity in Fairfax and improve the management of our elections as well. Eric Spicer is driving significant reforms that have been needed for years — and especially after the many problems with election operations we all encountered in 2020 and 2021,” said Fairfax GOP Chairman Steve Knotts.
The Election Integrity Working Group is a volunteer-led project of the Fairfax County Republican Committee. This article was updated on June 1, 2022 with corrections to information for Election Officers.