DATE: Tuesday, November 25, 1997            TAG: 9711250574

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   90 lines

86TH DISTRICT ELECTION RESULTS CHALLENGED

Republican Beverly ``Bev'' Graeber, claiming ``irregularities'' occurred Nov. 4 at Norfolk polling precincts, on Monday challenged the 86th District state House election she lost by eight votes.

While stopping short of alleging fraud, Graeber, in a sworn statement, claimed there were malfunctioning voting machines, unqualified persons casting votes and defective ballots in the election won by Democrat Donald L. Williams.

The ``notice of intent'' to contest the election, filed with the clerk of the state House in Richmond, came shortly after the state Board of Elections certified the results and declared Williams the winner. The official tally was 2,473 votes for Williams, 2,465 for Graeber.

Graeber has said since the election that she would request an official recount of votes cast.

But Monday's action goes further than that, raising questions about the integrity of the election, a spokesman for Graeber's campaign said.

The spokesman, Richmond political consultant Ray Allen Jr., said ``serious problems'' occurred at the polls on Election Day that raised doubts about the outcome.

``The more you look at the conduct of this election, the more questions you have,'' Allen said. ``This is not a minor thing or about partisan politics. This is about the integrity of the election process.''

Neither Graeber nor Williams was available for comment Monday. Allen said that Graeber still intends to seek a vote recount.

In her five-page statement, Graeber cited about a half-dozen ``irregularities'' that she alleges occurred in polling precincts in the 86th District. Allen said most of the problems cited occurred at two precincts in Ocean View, at the elementary school and the senior citizen center, both of which Williams carried handily.

Allen said that ``there are dozens of people coming forward to tell us problems that they had on Election Day,'' and that they have been gathering sworn affidavits from them.

In one of the most serious alleged discrepancies, Graeber said that some voters may have cast more than one ballot. In at least two polling places, she said in her statement, the number of persons checked off as voting by poll workers was ``significantly less than the number of ballots counted by the voting machines - in sufficient numbers to have had a probable impact on the outcome'' of the election.

Allen said that seven more ballots than voters were recorded. He said Graeber campaign officials discovered this the day after the election by comparing the number of names checked off in poll record books with the number of ballots counted. Poll workers must check off the names of voters as they arrive at the polls to vote.

``That's seven out of the eight votes right there,'' Allen said.

Graeber also claimed that some people who were ineligible to vote were allowed to cast ballots, including people who had submitted applications for absentee ballots after the deadline had passed.

Among other allegations, Graeber claimed that:

Ballot cards and equipment used for voting were ``substantially defective,'' including cards that voters had difficulty punching to record their votes.

Election officials were observed assisting voters by brushing off ballot card ``chads,'' the tiny piece that falls off the card when it's punched.

Voting machines ``experienced serious malfunctions,'' including incorrectly counting ballots, failure to count ballots and jamming.

Election officials were observed opening voting machines as ballot cards were being processed and allowing voters to reinsert ballot cards that already may have been counted.

At least at one poll, a live ballot may have been fed into a voting machine to test it before the polls opened.

Graeber's complaint will be heard and ruled on by the House of Delegates, said the House clerk, Bruce Jamerson. The House, which Democrats hold with a slim majority, could uphold Williams' victory, decide to seat Graeber instead or declare the election void and order a new one.

Williams has 10 days to file a response to Graeber's notice of intent to contest the election.

Ann Washington, Norfolk's voter registrar, could not be reached for comment Monday. She said last week that there was ``zero chance'' that fraud could have occurred at the election polls. She conceded, however, that it was possible that human error or a malfunctioning voting machine could have altered the count.

``It is not a perfect process,'' Washington said.

Jamerson said a contested election is rare. The last time it happened was in 1991, when James M. ``Jim'' Scott of Fairfax County contested the outcome of a 53rd District race. Scott, who initially had lost by 16 votes, later was determined the winner by one vote after the challenge, according to state election documents. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Republican Beverly ``Bev'' Graeber, who lost the House election to

Democrat Donald L. Williams by eight votes, says many polling

problems occurred at two precincts in Ocean View.

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