Virginia 2024: Vote Counting and Election Certification Processes

Election administration in Virginia is largely well-run, with detailed and regulated statutes at the city, county, and state levels. The statute and regulations put in place by the State Board of Elections leave limited discretion in the hands of local Electoral Boards, General Registrars, and election staff. Additionally, there are strong protections in Virginia law, including the power of the State Board to remove local officials for a failure to discharge their duties. This makes it unlikely that even election deniers or subverters serving in an official role could fully undermine a Virginia election. The system would be more vulnerable should the State Board itself be made up of a majority of election deniers. However, we don’t believe that is currently the case and do believe that Virginia’s strong laws would likely still trump and ensure the will of the voters is upheld

However, election-denying officials will need to be closely watched to ensure that any bad actors do not undermine the will of Virginia’s voters.

This update of our 2023 report identifies potential vulnerabilities to monitor, including: 

• Anti-democracy activity among election administrators identified before the 2023 election

• The power of the State Board of Elections

• Concerns regarding efforts to block or slow down certification or state canvass

• Variations in local practice for processes like absentee ballot processing

You can see the full report here, read an analysis of potential concerns here, and dive into the database of the election officials researched in 2023 to identify potential threats to free and fair elections. You can also track a timeline of post-vote processes, or subscribe to this Google Calendar of key dates.