The crux of American democracy is rooted in the idea of one vote for one person, each having an equal say in who is elected to represent us. But when the president, coming off an election win, makes claims that millions of votes were submitted illegally against him—topped with other stories of Russian interference—the faith in the system can become shaken. Though President Trump’s claims were disproven, there are still worries about potential Russian meddling. So what is being done in an often pivotal state like Virginia to make sure the upcoming November elections are without controversy?
In Northern Virginia alone, there are nearly 2 million registered voters across Arlington, Alexandria, Fauquier, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the City of Fredericksburg, and 541 polling locations. Things are kept in order through a statewide requirement of paper ballots. This low-tech solution was officially instituted across Virginia prior to the 2017 statewide and municipal elections, though some counties had been working with paper ballots prior to that.
“It’s important that every voter has the security of that verifiable piece of paper if there needed to be a recount or something,” says Alexandria General Registrar Anna Leider, who is charged with overseeing voter registration.
This is still 2018, so while paper ballots may be the official way votes are cast, electronic scanners are used to tabulate. While no one manufacturer is the supplier of scanners for all Virginia counties—some of the systems come from Hart InterCivic, Unisyn and Electronic Systems & Software—they all are prepared and used in a similar fashion. The systems are checked prior to the election to make sure they are tabulating votes correctly, their equipment numbers are documented and then sealed, only to be opened and verified on Election Day morning. Results are printed out at the end of the day, reported by humans and then a post-election audit is also run.
To protect these machines from potential cyberattacks, counties have been known to limit or remove internet access, or use targeted cyber controls. Some counties have also partnered with the Elections Infrastructure-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), a pilot project from the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Internet Security that launched in March and is aimed at protecting election infrastructure against cyber threats.
Paper back-ups are also a key component when it comes to voter registration information. Virginia has an official state database of all registered voters that is continuously updated, but most counties usually keep track of all updates and print out the most recent versions for Election Day. If, however, there is an issue of whether a potential voter is registered or not, the voter can fill out a provisional ballot that will be reviewed before being counted among other votes.
“The biggest problem is the perception that voters may have that [our elections are] not protected, or they don’t think we’re doing things right,” says Lina Lindberg, director of elections in Arlington. “They hear about all these other issues across the country. We’re trying to address that as much as we can.”
This also includes absentee ballots. Applications are typically required to even receive a ballot and, like in-person voting, steps are taken to ensure voting integrity. As Lindberg explains, if a wife were to submit for an absentee ballot but sent in one for herself and her husband, only her ballot would be accepted. All absentee ballots remain sealed until Election Day, as well.
If voters still have questions on Election Deay, many polling places will have representatives or materials to explain what they are doing to ensure results are reflective of the electorate.
“I feel very confident [in] the integrity of the data at all points in the system for Arlington voters,” says Lindberg. “They can have every confidence that we are protecting their system.”
Want to make sure you’re registered? Visit elections.virginia.gov for more information.