Voter problems at the polls?

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - A number of people had trouble voting on Tuesday, but the State Board of Elections said it couldn't give an exact number of complaints.

Many of those people applied to vote at the DMV. 80% of voter transactions take place through the DMV, according to the State Board of Elections.

Virginia Beach resident Lori Lincoln voted at Pembroke Elementary, and she claimed the poll worker told her she may have to vote on a provisional ballot because her address was wrong.

"She asked me 'where did I fill in the change of address?' I said at the DMV, and she said we have had a number of people with the same problems today," said Lincoln.

Norfolk resident Sabrina Leary claimed she changed her address at the DMV for her license, but that information never made it to her new voting precinct.

"When you get your new address, they ask you if you are a registered voter and I checked the 'yes' box, but I never received anything in the mail that said I am a registered voter, and this is where I will now vote," said Leary.

WAVY.com called the State Board of Elections about DMV processing of voter registration information. "DMV is only a paper pusher in this process, and they are responsible for sending out 80% of all the voter applications," said Nancy Rodrigues who is Virginia's Chief Election Official.

Rodrigues said Lincoln's address was correct on the voter roll and she doesn't understand why she had to show two picture IDs to vote.

Rodrigues admits at least 751 voters across Virginia had to vote on provisional ballots in part based on information obtained at DMVs. Rodrigues noted 591 of those made mistakes on the registration form that disqualified them from voting. It possibly happened this way: the voter updated information at DMV, and was asked whether he/she wanted to register to vote, and they checked 'no.' Under that scenario they never would have received any information to vote, and would not be on the voter roll on election day.

Rodrigues said there is human error in play, but the number of problems were miniscule when compared to the number of people who voted. The number of provisional ballots were only 750 out of over 2 million votes cast, which equates to .03%.

In Virginia there is always the option of voting on a provisional ballot, which is a ballot that will be considered when the final vote is certified. The provisional ballots are given to voters who can't resolve their issues at the polls.

To see where you are officially registered to vote, visit the Voter Registration Status website on the Virginia State Board of Elections' homepage.