Fairfax City Election 2022: The Tale Of 3 Sample Ballots

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — If the 2022 City of Fairfax election has taught voters anything, it's the ins and outs of sample ballots — they have just had so many to consider.

Early Monday afternoon, volunteers from the Sang Yi for Mayor campaign were taking advantage of the warm fall weather to distribute copies of the latest blue sample ballot to homes in the Country Club Hills neighborhood.

The ballot is designed to resemble the official yellow ballot that Fairfax City voters will find when they go to the polls on Tuesday. It lists all the candidates on the ballot in the 11th Congressional District, mayor, and city council races.

Where this ballot differs is that it says "Sample Ballot Non-Partisan/Independent" at the top and below highlights mayoral candidate Sang H. Yi and city council candidates Kate G. Doyle Feingold, Joseph D. Harmon, So P. Lim, Jeffrey C. Greenfield, Anahita N. “Ana” Renner, and Craig S. Salewski.

At the bottom, it reads: "Paid for and Authorized by Sang Yi for Fairfax" and "Not Authorized by any other Candidate or Candidate's Campaign Committee."

The sample ballot is nearly identical to the one that was handed out on the last two Saturdays during early voting at Fairfax City Hall.

Unlike the new ballot, which identifies Yi's campaign as the entity behind it, the "Independent/Non-Partisan Sample Ballot" was "Paid for by Concerned Citizens of Fairfax City" and "Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."

None of the candidates highlighted in the earlier "Independent/Non-Partisan" sample ballot had authorized or approved it. Since it was unclear where the ballot came from, voters would find it difficult to determine why they should vote for those seven candidates.

With the new sample ballot, Yi's campaign tells voters who is behind it. Although other candidates are highlighted, they didn't authorize it, so the message for voters is these are people Yi supports.

Due to the earlier "Independent/Non-Partisan" ballot's uncertain origin, incumbent council members D.T. "Tom" Ross and Jon R. Stehle Jr., and Laura Stokes, the campaign manager for mayoral candidate Catherine S. Read, filed complaints about the sample ballot via the Virginia Department of Election's Stand by Your Ad form.

“I believe it's critically important to know who is sponsoring material being sent out around elections,” Stehle told Patch. “People can put together whatever ballot they would like, but acknowledging clearly who the sponsor of the ad is, is in the guidance from how to do sample ballots, and we should follow that guidance.”

The State Board of Elections will review the complaints at its next regularly scheduled meeting in January 2023.

The root of this sample ballot brouhaha stems from accusations by Yi and city council candidate Jeffrey Greenfield made earlier in the campaign about the City of Fairfax Democratic Committee injecting partisan politics into a non-partisan election.

City elections are traditionally non-partisan and candidates must run as independents, according to both the city charter and the Code of Virginia.

"It's not about whether you've got a 'D' or an 'R.' It's about what are you interested in doing to move the city forward in the City of Fairfax," Greenfield told an audience during the Sept. 28 candidate meet and greet at American Legion Post #177. "So, when you see folks being endorsed by different people, I hope you question why are you throwing that into a non-partisan election?"

The Fairfax City Charter specifically states that candidates names must be listed on the ballot without a "mark" identifying them with any particular party.

At the time, the City of Fairfax Democratic Committee had started handing out sample ballots with the names of 11th District congressional candidate Gerry Connolly (D), mayoral candidate Read, and city council candidates Ross, Stehle, and Billy Bates. The other names on the ballot were blocked out and the highlighted names all had the oval filled in — including Connolly, who had a "D" by his name.

Voters seeing this sample ballot could conclude that the chosen candidates were Democrats by association with Connolly. In their defense, the committee said the ballot was created in response to a June 24 fundraiser Yi hosted with prominent Republicans, including Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“The sample ballot being handed out by the Democratic Party is properly attributed,” said Brenda F. Cabrera, the city’s director of elections and general registrar, told Patch recently. “It's in compliance with what the code requires. It says at the bottom who it's sponsored by and who's handing it out.”

As voters head to the polls on Tuesday, campaign volunteers will likely want to hand them a sample ballot. When a voter takes a ballot, they should scan the bottom to see who paid for it and authorized it. Then they can use that information how they see fit.

Related:

• Petersen Employee Dropped Off Sample Ballots At Fairfax City Polls
• Complaints Filed Over Sample Ballot Distributed At Fairfax City Hall
• Partisan Election Criticized In Letter From 20 Fairfax City Leaders
• $210K In Campaign Contributions Reported In Fairfax City Mayor's Race
• Partisan Politics Emerge In 2022 Fairfax City Mayor's Race