VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It's a tradition each Election Day for Rose Johnson and her husband, Kenny, to go to the polls early together and cast their ballots.
"Every year, we go vote at six in the morning," said Rose Johnson.
The tradition started as normally planned until Kenny gave the poll workers his driver's license and they scanned it through the system. That's when the poll workers told Kenny he already cast his ballot through early voting.
"I turned to look at them and said, 'He hadn't voted,'" Rose Johnson explained.
She got on the phone with the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT) to get some answers.
"They also informed me that certain areas in Virginia [are] having the same issue where it says people have voted early," Rose Johnson explained. "My husband is a veteran, a disabled vet, and no one should be treated like this."
During a teleconference with the Virginia Elections Commissioner Susan Beals, another reporter from the Richmond metro area said he received a few calls regarding the same problem.
Beals said her department did not receive a high volume of calls concerning this issue for Election Day. However, she said there are still ways for people in this predicament to make their voices heard.
"If anybody finds themselves in that position, they can fill out a provisional ballot for a way to have their vote potentially counted by an electoral board when they meet and consider that ballot," Beals explained.
13News Now also spoke with Virginia Beach Electoral Board Chair, Jeff Marks. He said this happens in small numbers each year and there is no clear answer as to the direct cause behind this problem.
However, he reiterated what Beals said by explaining the fact that voters can still fill out a provisional ballot.
Rose Johnson said Kenny filled out the provisional ballot but was told he had to follow up with the Virginia ELECT to check on his status. She wants her husband's vote to be counted, even if it is through the provisional ballot.
"That's why I called the fraud department because nobody really knows just yet that if the form he filled out to that lady that his vote is going to count...so, it's wrong," said Johnson.
Beals said if the electoral board cannot consider your provisional ballot, you will receive a notification from the Virginia Department of Elections.
When 13News Now asked Beals what is the cause behind this problem, she said she could not comment.