In a recent announcement, election officials in Prince William County, Virginia, disclosed that approximately 4,000 votes were misreported in favor of former President Donald Trump during the 2020 election. Eric Olsen, the director of elections for the county, revealed that the misreporting occurred due to errors in the election results tapes, which were not programmed to a format compatible with state reporting requirements. Olsen emphasized that the reporting errors were not consistently biased towards any party or candidate but were likely the result of a lack of proper planning, a challenging election environment, and human error.
According to the press release, Trump erroneously received an additional 2,327 votes, while President Joe Biden was reportedly shorted 1,628 votes. The misreporting also affected Senate candidates Mark Warner (Democrat) and Daniel Gade (Republican), who received too few votes by 1,589 and 107, respectively. Mark Warner won the Senate race by a substantial margin of over 500,000 votes. Additionally, House candidate Rob Wittman, a Republican, was reported to be shorted by 293 votes.
Olsen clarified that over the past three years, the 2020 election has undergone various audits, recounts, and investigations. While acknowledging the unfortunate mistakes, he asserted that they were not indicative of a deliberate attempt to undermine the electoral process. Olsen attributed the errors to a lack of planning, the challenging circumstances surrounding the election, and human fallibility. He underscored the dedication of election officials to transparency and their ongoing commitment to ensuring the integrity of elections, past, present, and future. Olsen encouraged the public to maintain faith in the efforts of the numerous public servants and volunteers who tirelessly work to preserve and protect democracy.
