Republicans in Fairfax County are blasting local election officials over what they describe as a major breach of ballot security in the run-up to nationally watched state elections. In a formal complaint letter, Fairfax GOP Chair Katie Gorka accused the county’s Office of Elections of sending out tens of thousands of “flawed” absentee ballots that could expose voters’ private selections, particularly for Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Calling it “a MASSIVE election security scandal,” Gorka cited the county’s own numbers as of October 15: 84,062 absentee ballots sent, with 29,106 returned by mail, 3,366 via dropbox, and hundreds of recipients unexpectedly choosing to vote in-person after already receiving a ballot. Gorka warned that these overlapping behaviors indicate possible violations of ballot secrecy — a core requirement of election law.
The letter argued that the greatest danger stems from mail-in voting, pointing to testimony from Department of Elections Commissioner Susan Beals, who told lawmakers last year that the U.S. Postal Service’s performance was her top concern going into the election cycle. “If I had to name what my biggest concern is… it would be the operational performance of the United States Postal Service,” Beals said in September 2024 testimony.
Gorka said some ballot envelopes risk revealing a voter’s choice, specifically their vote for Miyares, undermining voter privacy and confidence. The committee urged immediate corrective action, including notifying affected voters, advising in-person voting when possible, and guaranteeing the protection of all ballots already in circulation. The letter closed by demanding public acknowledgment and a clear plan from the Office of Elections to “secure the election.”
Virginia’s 45-day early voting window began September 19 and runs through November 1. The mail-ballot request deadline is October 24.
Ordinarily, off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey don’t grab national attention — but 2025 is not ordinary. The governor’s race between Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears is already a top-watched contest. Yet the attorney general race has eclipsed even that after Democrat nominee Jay Jones was engulfed in scandal over leaked text messages where he fantasized about murdering political enemies and their children. Jones has collapsed in the polls, and Republican incumbent Jason Miyares has surged into the lead after trailing by double digits just weeks ago.
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