RNC claimed ‘election integrity win’ over ‘non-existent problem,’ Virginia county election director says

The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced on Friday that it “secured an election integrity win in Prince William County, Virginia,” by making election officials change the county’s poll worker guidance “to ensure only citizens are voting in Virginia elections.”

The county “voluntarily changed its guidance” when the RNC threatened to sue, according to a press release. “Because of the RNC’s action, Prince William County will now have to ensure only citizens are voting in Virginia elections,” reads the announcement.

But none of this is true according to Prince William County Director of Elections Eric Olsen, who told Democracy Docket that the RNC is “trying to invent a headline to further a political agenda” and “to fabricate a nonexistent problem.”

“I told the RNC’s lawyer in a letter dated April 17th we would provide ‘additional clarification’ in a letter to officers – something we do the Friday before every election on a variety of topics,” said Olsen. “I noted our instructions are ‘compliant with Virginia law’ and we did not change our instructions.”

Republican Party Chairman Joe Gruters claimed that “Prince William County was instructing poll workers to ignore state law,” by using a manual that told election officials not to challenge suspected noncitizens who were attempting to vote. 

The RNC also announced Friday that it filed a lawsuit against Fairfax County, Virginia’s elections board based off its allegations against Prince William County. But it’s not clear how it will stand up considering Olsen’s refutations. 

At issue are the counties’ policies concerning voters who verify their identity with a Driver’s Privilege Card (DPC), which are only given to noncitizens. The RNC contends that county election officials are obligated by state law to challenge the eligibility of any voter who presents a DPC, given its noncitizen association.

Virginia law currently states that election officers shall challenge a voter’s eligibility if they are “suspected not to be a qualified voter.” The law also says, though, that a challenged voter can still cast a ballot if they give a sworn confirmation statement of their identity.

For the Prince William County election officer manual, it states that a DPC is not acceptable alone to use for voter ID. However, the manual says people with a DPC can still vote if they have another valid ID or if they sign the sworn ID confirmation statement. 

A state-issued driver’s license, military ID, or passport are all listed as valid IDs. But the manual says a valid secondary ID could also be a “current utility bill, bank statement, government check, or paycheck containing the name and address of the voter” –  which the RNC contends is unacceptable because these “do not verify citizenship status.”

The RNC’s claim that Prince William County “changed its guidance” is based off a letter that Olsen sent to election officers on Friday that calls attention to the DPC ID issue. 

“While it’s highly unlikely you will see a Driver’s Privilege Card on Election Day,” reads the letter, “please have the voter complete an Affirmation of Eligibility if you know or suspect a voter is not eligible.”

Olsen said that the letter, which calls attention to several other non-DPC related election issues, was not sent out in response to a lawsuit. Rather, these kinds of letters are always sent out on the Friday before an election, said Olsen, and this one was in reference to Virginia’s special election on April 21. 

Further, he said no changes were made at the RNC’s behest. The note on DPCs and eligibility merely reinforced what is already in the manual, said Olsen, and the sworn ID affirmation permitted by state law.

“Officers misidentifying valid identification as a Driver’s Privilege Card is the most significant problem we have in this area, which can lead to voter harassment,” said Olsen.

The instances of people showing up to vote with DPCs are exceedingly rare – “We see somewhere between two or three of these in any given election out of hundreds of thousands of voters,” he told Democracy Docket.

The rarity of DPC use is acknowledged in the RNC’s lawsuit against Fairfax County. 

“Because Virginia has issued over 44,000 DPCs, and approximately 3,021,956 Virginians vote, Plaintiffs expect that at least some voters will present DPCs on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 for the special election,” reads the complaint.

The lawsuit also acknowledges that Fairfax County’s election guidance “allows an individual with a DPC to vote as long as the person provides another form of ID or completes an ID Confirmation Statement.”

Still, the RNC is calling for courts to “permanently enjoin” the county from using the manual due to its alleged “allowance of unchallenged voting for individuals with DPCs” – just days before one of the most consequential elections in the nation. 

The April 21 vote will determine if Virginia can redraw its congressional maps to give Democrats more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, in response to GOP partisan redistricting in other states tipping the power balance in their favor.

Over 1.2 million Virginians have already cast ballots on the matter via early voting, which started in early March.

As for the RNC’s contention that county election officials are legally obligated to challenge voter eligibility for suspected noncitizens, that issue may become moot in a few months. Virginia lawmakers passed House Bill 640 this year, which eliminates the state law provision allowing challenges to a voter’s eligibility on election day and moves that process to circuit courts.

The bill is awaiting Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s final approval.