VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Shortly before early voting kicked off this election season, Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-Virginia) signed an executive order he says is aimed at strengthening election integrity.
Executive Order 53, issued by Gov. Youngkin on Sept. 12, directs the Virginia Department of Elections to work with federal agencies to ensure "that data is shared securely and ineligible voters are expeditiously removed from the rolls in compliance with state and federal law."
The governor says the order will "strengthen election security and integrity."
"I do think that is very necessary," said Nanette Miller, Chairman of Virginia Beach Electoral Board.
Miller says there haven't been any hiccups thus far when it comes to voter fraud or ineligible voters. At this time, she says they don't plan to work with federal agencies.
Data from the Virginia Department of Elections shows that of the more than 4.5 million votes cast in 2024 elections in Virginia, there were only 30 online complaints of voter fraud. The data also shows more people filed complaints about voter intimidation — with 213 complaints over the last 5 years.
Across the commonwealth, more than 35,000 people have taken advantage of early voting in just the first three days as of Monday, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Miller says the board drives around precincts to ensure there are no issues. In Virginia Beach and other jurisdictions, people vote on paper ballots and then feed them into a voting machine, which tabulates the results. In Virginia, voting machines are forbidden from being connected to the internet.
"We want to make sure that everyone who's supposed to vote, votes. And those that are not supposed to vote don't water down your vote," said Miller.
In-person early voting in Virginia will continue through Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 4.
