What ELECT Does Before You Vote

While citizens of the Commonwealth vote at their polling place once or twice a year, ELECT works on preparing for each election all year long.

At the local level, 133 certified registrars follow over 500 pages of Virginia election law and operate their offices year-round. And when it is time to vote, another 15,000 Virginians join in the process as poll workers, chief officers of election and in other roles.

These thousands of citizens are trained and retrained to be on the front lines of the election to ensure all protocols are followed to provide a free and fair process with an accurate outcome decided by voters.

Ensuring against fraudulent votes is a constant process.

We are monitoring and updating registered voter lists daily. There are numerous steps at the statewide and local levels to ensure the validity of a voter’s registration and that only eligible residents of Virginia are on the voter registration list.

ELECT receives data from multiple state and federal agencies to achieve this. ELECT shares data with more than 40 other states and has data sharing partnerships with federal agencies including:

• U.S. Postal Service National Change of Address registry
• Social Security Administration
• U.S. Attorney’s Offices
• Department of Homeland Security

As well as state agencies including:

• Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles
• Virginia State Police
• Virginia Department of Health

Virginia’s multi-faceted approach to maintain accurate, up-to-date voter lists has earned ELECT recognition from the U.S. Congress and has served as a model for other states.

Cybersecurity is always a priority.

Virginia’s ballot scanning machines are certified to meet both state and federal standards. They are sealed, numbered, securely stored and under a controlled chain of custody through deployment to polling places.

Ballot scanning machines are tested using a predetermined sample of votes to confirm ballots are tallied accurately before you cast an actual vote. By law, Virginia’s ballot scanning machines are never connected to the Internet.  Virginia uses paper ballots, which is a physical representation of the voter’s intent, that are stored by Circuit Court Clerks following the election and are available for a recount if necessary.  Following election day, risk-limiting audits are conducted on ballot scanners to ensure they reported results accurately. A risk-limiting audit is a type of post-election audit that utilizes statistical methods and a manual review of paper ballots to confirm that the ballot scanning machines accurately reported the correct outcome of an election.

ELECT is vigilant concerning the potential threats against our election infrastructure, and works with local, state, and federal partners to ensure the safety and security of our electoral process. The Department of Homeland Security and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency provide cyber services to ELECT and are prepared to address any identified issues appropriately.

ELECT is the primary source of information for voter registration requirements and deadlines.

ELECT uses a myriad of communication efforts to educate voters about all the ways they can cast a ballot, including voting early in person, by mail, and on Election Day.

ELECT works to ensure all Virginia polling places, including early voting locations, meet state and federal accessibility standards.

Electoral Board members conduct annual assessments to ensure accessible parking, pathways, and doors are available at all voting locations. Curbside voting is also available to any voter 65 years or older and to voters with disabilities.

Voters with a difficulty or inability to read printed material due to a perceptual, physical or visual disability may request to receive an absentee ballot electronically to mark your ballot using an electronic ballot-marking tool. If you choose this option for voting absentee, your ballot will be delivered by email and can be marked using screen reader assistive technology.