Just months after Norfolk election officials attempted to force her out, a Norfolk Electoral Board member said she believed the provisional ballot process was flawed.

Norfolk Electoral Board vice chair Marianne McKay voted against both counting 1,420 provisional ballots and not counting 108 other provisional ballots in two votes during a canvassing meeting Friday.

Both measures ultimately passed 2-1, with chair Atoy Carrington and member Michael Ziegenfuss voting to approve the counts.

McKay, a Republican member of the board, voted against both measures as part of a belief she should be able to personally inspect both the provisional ballot rolls and the ballots themselves by hand. The time-consuming process would likely mean Norfolk could not certify its election results in time to meet a state-mandated deadline of 10 days after the election, said Norfolk General Registrar Stephanie Iles.

For years, Norfolk has directed election staff, rather than board members, to confirm whether provisional ballot casters are eligible to vote, Iles said. She said the process isn’t unusual and is used by many large Virginia localities with thousands of provisional ballots.

“We give them the informed decision, and then they can vote yea or nay,” Iles said.

McKay said the origins of her concerns came from hearing about what she described as irregularities at Norfolk’s Chesterfield precinct during the 2024 general election from two GOP poll watchers she assigned to the location.

“I was like, ‘OK, we need to review the provisional ballots and the provisional ballot logs,’ because I wanted to find out the extent of the problems,” McKay said.

The discussion on Friday turned tense at times, with Carrington raising her voice to ask “What irregularities?” when McKay mentioned the process contained them. McKay did not respond.

Despite her concerns, McKay voted along with the other two board members to certify the general election results, saying the provisional ballots did not change the results of any race.

Earlier this year, a judge ruled against Norfolk election officials, including Carrington and Iles, who tried to remove McKay from her post, alleging she had disrupted the election process and betrayed the nonpartisan nature of the office.

Norfolk Circuit Court Judge Everett Martin said in an opinion that while it was clear that election officials found McKay “meddlesome and obnoxious, and they wish to be rid of her,” prosecutors had failed to present compelling evidence that she failed to perform her duties or engaged in political activity while on the job.

Virginia’s bipartisan electoral boards are selected for three-year staggered terms by Circuit Court judges based on local party recommendations, according to the Virginia elections website. McKay’s term ends Dec. 31.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com

https://www.dailypress.com/2025/11/15/norfolk-provisional-ballot/