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Registrar urges county to fund permanent absentee-voting position as early voting climbs
Summary
The registrar told supervisors absentee and early voting workloads now account for 40–65% of total votes cast before Election Day and asked for a funded position with an estimated local impact of about $68,000 and recurring annual cost around $100,000–$101,000.
Fauquier’s registrar, Alex Abels, told the board that absentee and early voting have grown substantially since 2020 and described the administrative burden of managing mailings, permanent absentee lists and year-round registration work. Abels said the county’s election operations have shifted from volunteer-driven tasks to a continuous, professional workload as absentee ballots now account for a large share of total votes cast in recent elections.
Abels warned: "It's now turned into an kind of an 800 pound gorilla where you're getting anywhere between 40 to 65% of your total votes cast... before election day." He asked the board to fund a permanent absentee-voting position to ensure continuity and reduce operational risk. Staff estimated the local impact at about $68,000 initially and a recurring annual cost of roughly $100,000–$101,000, and offered to provide a workplace tour and additional comparisons of FTEs per voter with peer jurisdictions.
Supervisors requested a comparison of FTEs per voter and carryover metrics to justify the recurring request; staff said HR and regional partners could provide those benchmarks for the next meeting.
