Some Eligible Voters Not Permitted to Vote in Special Election

Christina Shaw and Prince William Democratic Committee Chairman Harry Wiggins outside the Limestone Precinct in Gainesville.

Residents who are 17-years-old and will be 18 on the day of or before the next general election are legally allowed to vote in the special election to choose the next Brentsville District Supervisor; however, poll workers had been turning these young voters away Tuesday.

Virginia Regulation 24.2-403. (Persons under 18-years-of-age) states:

Any person who is otherwise qualified and will be 18 years of age on or before the day of the next general election shall be permitted to register in advance and also vote in any intervening primary or special election. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any person who is otherwise qualified and will be 18 years of age on or before the day of the next November general presidential election shall be permitted to register in advance of and also vote in any intervening presidential primary and any other primary held on the same day as the presidential primary.

When Christina Shaw, 17, daughter of former Democratic candidate for Brentsville Supervisor Don Shaw, arrived to vote at the Limestone Precinct at Gainesville Middle School, she was told by Ted Zagrobelny, Chief Officer of Elections at the precinct, that she was on a list of registered voters who could not vote due to her age.

Zagrobelny said the list originated with the County Office of Elections.

The Office had provided all precincts with a list of names of 56 individuals who should be removed from rolls since they are 17 and not of legal voting age.

Zagrobelny said he was told by Chief Deputy Brenda Cabrera to turn her away.

Christina and her mother, Joyce, not convinced that Cabrera had the right to deny her access to the election, recruiter her father who reached out to the State Board of Elections to submit a complaint.

Democratic Committee Chair Harry Wiggins called Cabrera's attention to the regulation. Upon seeing the regulation, she realized the Election Office had made a mistake in issuing the list to precincts. Cabrera said the confusion resulted from the fact that it was a special election, since had it been a regular election, 17-year-olds would not have been able to vote.

Cabrera said she promptly contacted all of the Brentsville Precincts, ordering them to disregard the list.

The only precinct to turn away any teens was Limestone: Christine and one young man. Fortunately, Zagrobelny had took note of that his name and he returned to vote.

Cabrera told Bristow Beat that the problem arose early last week when her office received the list of eligible registered voters. They thought it odd that it included 17-year-olds since they are usually eliminated from the list. She reached out to the State Board of Elections, leaving a message asking why they were not removed.

"We thought that because they were 17 We were surprised they showed up on the poll books," she said.

Not hearing back from the state, she made the decision to send out the list.

Cabrera said she was familiar with the regulation that 17-year-olds could vote in a primary, but did not realize the same code applied to special elections as well.

While she is concerned by the mistake, Cabrera said she is happy it was resolved quickly.

"We're only looking at two and thank goodness, they both voted," she said

Meanwhile, Christina was relieved that she was able to vote and also help clear up the issue for the county. However, she does not take her civic duty lightly.

"A lot of us at Patriot High School really care about politics," she said, explaining that it had been disheartening to be told as a first-time voter that her vote did not matter.