The Chesterfield County branch of the NAACP has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of county voters asking that proposed changes in some polling places be rejected.

The civil-rights complaint says hundreds of Chesterfield residents were deprived of the right to vote in the Feb. 12 presidential primary, primarily in precincts with the largest black populations, and claims changes approved by the county's Board of Supervisors last month could cause a repeat of problems in November, according to Jerome Seldon, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Chesterfield chapter.

Justice Department spokesman Jamie Hais confirmed the complaint had been received and would be reviewed.

In nine of Chesterfield's 63 precincts, voting officials ran out of Democratic primary ballots. Nearly 300 voters were allowed to cast votes on blank pieces of paper, but the State Board of Elections later decided they would not count.

A plan developed by the county's Electoral Board and registrar, largely in response to the problems, would create three new polling places by splitting three precincts, and move four others to larger facilities.

"We hope these changes will not take place, due to the confusion it would cause," Seldon said.

Seldon said voters affected by the changes, many of whom are minorities, could be confused by the late changes and could miss their opportunity to vote in a crucial election.

"It seems as if another mishap could happen and people's votes might not be counted again," Seldon said, adding that the changes could be made after the election. "It's not that we don't want it to take place eventually, but not right now."

Registrar Lawrence C. Haake III said last month the changes would better accommodate voters by reducing turnout at some precincts and improving parking.

The changes, approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors, require approval by the Justice Department before they can be implemented.

Haake said yesterday that he was unaware of the complaint.

"We had some well-documented problems and we made decisions and took actions we felt were in the best interest of the voters at the time," he said. "If the Department of Justice wants to come in and review them, I'm happy to work with them on that."
Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or whester@timesdispatch.com.