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Elections director reports 330,000 registered voters, new equipment and outreach plans
Summary
Eric Olson, director of elections, told the board the office serves 330,000 registered voters, operates on a roughly $4 million baseline budget, has expanded early and Sunday voting under local ordinance, added a high‑speed scanner and expects new voter‑verification scanners once the state completes certification; he recommended continued outreach and an outreach coordinator for FY27.
Eric Olson, Director of Elections and General Registrar, updated the board on local election operations, turnout trends and technology on Jan. 13.
Olson said there are approximately 330,000 registered voters in Prince William County and the elections office runs on a roughly $4,000,000 baseline budget with 18 full‑time staff and hundreds of bipartisan election officers who work elections. He reported that, over four years, the office ran 10 elections and had more than 830,000 voters participate in local, state and federal contests.
On access, Olson noted the county’s ordinance guarantees Sunday voting and the office provides six early‑voting sites, Saturday and evening hours, and 103 polling places on election day. About 20,000 voters have signed up for universal mail ballots and about 9,000 receive ballot‑tracking texts.
On equipment and accuracy, Olson said the office added a high‑speed scanner to improve mail and early‑voting reporting times and is expecting new scanners that allow voters to verify their ballot on a screen after federal certification; those scanners still need state certification before deployment.
Olson described transparency measures — posting signed tapes online and public open houses — and operational changes to improve party equity among election officers. He said the office is looking at data‑driven tweaks to the early‑voting ordinance and plans to add an outreach coordinator in FY27 to expand voter education and registration efforts.
On mail ballots, Olson warned that USPS changes to postmarking practices could complicate deadlines and recommended educating voters to mail ballots early or use drop boxes and polling places to return ballots.
Why this matters: elections logistics, equipment and outreach shape voter experience and confidence. The pending state certification of new scanners and questions about USPS postmarking could affect operations and voter guidance this year.
What’s next: Olson will provide additional proposals on early‑voting ordinance tweaks and staffing for expanded outreach; county staff and the board will monitor state certification timelines for new equipment.
