What ELECT Does After You Vote

The process of reviewing, confirming, and recording the official local results of each election is called a “canvass.”

On the day following Election Day, the “canvass” of votes begins. Local election officials in each locality have 10 days to conduct a canvass to verify and consolidate election results from the individual precincts.

The local electoral board is responsible for conducting an accurate and timely canvass, and then transmitting the results of the canvass to ELECT.  ELECT staff reviews each abstract of votes before the five-member Virginia State Board of Elections certifies the final results.

While the canvass process is required to begin no later than 5:00 PM on the day after the election, all provisional ballots must be adjudicated and either accepted or rejected before the results from the canvass can be certified and submitted to ELECT.

The five elements of the canvass include:

1. Pollbook and Pollbook Count Form
   
   A pollbook is either a printed or electronic list of all the eligible voters for a given precinct for a given election.
   
   The pollbook count form is a tally sheet used by officers of election to track the number of voters who checked in on Election Day. If an electronic pollbook is used, this count is tracked automatically.
2. Statement of Results
   
   The statement of results is a worksheet Officers of Election use to submit the results for each precinct.
   
   After polls close, Officers of Election begin to ascertain the votes by completing the statement of results. Officers use materials such as ballot scanning machine results tapes to complete the statement of results.
   
   Officers of Election must complete certain fields on the statement of results such as:
   • The number of voters checked-in at the pollbook
   • The number of voters who voted outside the polling place (such as absentee ballots and early in-person votes cast at the registrar’s office)
   • The number of ballots cast on the machines
   Virginia begins to process mail-in ballots before Election Day but holds off reporting those results until after the close of polls on Election Day.  Results are further reported in more detail by precinct in the week following the election.
3. Voting System Results Tapes
   
   Ballot scanning machines produce tapes from the end of the night showing the total number of votes and, if applicable, any write-in names. These results tapes must be certified by election officials on election night.
   
   So that by-precinct Election Day results can be verified as needed, ballot scanning machines are also used to produce results tapes of early in-person voting as well as the absentee ballots received to date.
4. County/City Results Reports
   
   County/city results reports may be used to summarize all the statements of results within a locality for all offices and referenda. The reports identify the election, its date, the locality name, code, and precincts involved with all candidates and issues appearing in the same order as they were listed on the ballot.
5. Counting of Provisional Ballots
   
   If any voter is unable to provide sufficient identification or if, for some reason, their name does not appear on the voter registration list as eligible to vote on Election Day, they can register using Same Day Registration and submit a provisional ballot.
   
   The local electoral board is required to meet at the circuit clerk’s or general registrar’s office on the day after the election to begin determining the qualifications of persons who cast provisional votes. The time selected must be included in the required Provisional Voter Notice form given to each provisional voter at the polls.
   
   The local electoral board has the discretion to determine whether a voter was eligible under Virginia law namely that they were registered to vote (including same day registration) and if they were legally eligible to vote in the precinct in which the vote was cast.

All the outlined canvass steps are consolidated into an Abstract of Votes, which is then  verified by ELECT comparing the data keyed into the reporting system to the totals entered on the Abstract of Votes.

ELECT will require the general registrar or the electoral board, as appropriate, to correct any discrepancies found.

Localities are required to report all election results to ELECT no later than the 10th calendar day after the election. This includes absentee by mail ballots, early in-person votes, and provisional ballots.

Using canvass and Abstract of Votes data, ELECT posts to its website the election results for each precinct, along with other vital information such as voter turnout percentages and percentage of votes cast for each candidate.

Virginia has one of the most transparent vote recording and reporting processes in the nation.

Certification of an election is completed by the five-member State Board of Elections, the regulatory board for the Department of Elections. It is authorized to prescribe standard forms for voter registration and elections and to supervise, coordinate, and adopt regulations governing the work of local electoral boards, registrars, and officers of election.

For November elections, the State Board of Elections must certify results on the first Monday of December and, in the interim, will verify the accuracy of the results each local electoral board has certified. Local electoral boards stand at-the-ready to respond immediately to any request from the Department of Elections for verification of any information contained in the certification.

Collecting, recording, reviewing, verifying and certifying the votes from Virginia’s 133 counties and cities requires over 15,000 poll workers, more than 500 pages of Virginia election law, and a Department of Elections that works year-round to ensure free, fair, and accurate elections.