Virginia’s Senate majority leader just managed to turn a “I voted” flex into an election-law headache.
Scott Surovell posted a ballot-style graphic while early voting is underway, and the Republican listed in Virginia’s 8th District wasn’t Tony Sabio — it was a mash-up with Senate nominee Bert Mizusawa’s last name.
So, you know, a MASSIVE mistake.
Sabio is now asking the Virginia Department of Elections to look at whether the image violated state rules on unofficial sample ballots, which require a clear “SAMPLE BALLOT” label and treat internet graphics as political ads. Surovell later pulled the post from X, but the questions remain: sloppy graphics, bad AI, or something state officials should actually review before more voters see the wrong name on something that looks official.
This needs to be looked into by Virginia election officials.
— Tony Sabio (@tony_sabio) September 20, 2026
Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell posted a ballot-style image on X with the statement: “My ballot is in the Mail! Make sure you vote as soon as you can!”
There’s a serious problem: the image incorrectly… https://t.co/Yahi8HiMCt
Post continues:
... incorrectly identifies me as “Tony A. Mizusawa” instead of Tony A. Sabio, the Republican candidate for Congress in #VA08.
Virginia Code §24.2-622 specifically regulates unofficial sample ballots, including those published on the Internet.
The law says they must:
• Not be printed on white paper
• Clearly state “SAMPLE BALLOT” in at least 24-point type
• Be treated as political advertisements under Virginia lawI don’t see “SAMPLE BALLOT” anywhere on this image. Instead, the accompanying post describes it as “My ballot.”
Virginia law also requires the names of candidates appearing on official ballots to comply with state ballot requirements. I’m not going to speculate about whether this was intentional, an AI-generated image, or simply a serious mistake. That’s exactly why the Virginia Department of Elections should review it.
Election integrity isn’t Republican or Democrat.When a senior elected official publishes ballot-style election material during voting, Virginians deserve to know that the information is accurate and that Virginia’s election laws are being followed.Transparency builds trust. This deserves an official review.
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Sadly, since Virginia's 'top cop' is Jay 'Two Bullets' Jones, we're not holding our breath on any sort of investigation being done locally.
Federally? That could be a whole different story.
We hope.
He deleted the original post — luckily people were good enough to grab a screenshot.
@ssurovell deleted the post from X, but as of now, it is still posted and pinned to his BlueSky account. pic.twitter.com/R5X6oA4ifl
— Christopher Aldana (@chrisaldanaLLC) September 20, 2026
Not a great look for a guy who pushed to rob millions of Virginians of their representation not even six months ago.
And it looks like this just got REAL:
UPDATE: I HAVE FORMALLY SUBMITTED THIS MATTER TO THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS FOR REVIEW.
— Tony Sabio (@tony_sabio) September 22, 2026
Many of you have already seen the ballot-style image posted by Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell and have called for election officials to look into it.
Today, I took… pic.twitter.com/UsZ3I48SCa
Post continues:
... that concern directly to the proper authorities.
The image was presented publicly with the statement, “My ballot is in the Mail!” Yet in the race for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, it identifies the Republican candidate as “Tony A. Mizusawa” instead of Tony A. Sabio.
I have now provided the Virginia Department of Elections with the evidence and requested that they determine what this image actually is—an authentic ballot, an altered image, a digitally generated image, an unofficial sample ballot, or something else—and whether Virginia election law applies.
I’m not going to prejudge their findings. I want the facts.
And the public deserves those facts too.This isn’t about Republican versus Democrat. When something is presented to Virginians as a ballot and contains the name of a candidate who does not exist, asking questions isn’t partisan. It’s accountability.Thank you to everyone who brought attention to this and demanded answers.
Now help keep the public informed. Share the evidence. Ask the questions. Let Virginia election officials determine the facts.
Election integrity requires transparency—and Virginians deserve nothing less.
*POPCORN*
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