This comes in the wake of the discovery and subsequent removal of over 6,000 non-citizen registered voters from the state's voting rolls since Youngkin assumed office.
According to Newsweek, this development comes as the national presidential election looms less than 90 days away, with the GOP advocating for more stringent voter regulations to ensure the sanctity of the electoral process. It is worth noting that non-citizens participating in a federal election is a federal crime, attracting penalties such as imprisonment and fines, despite the lack of substantial evidence pointing to widespread non-citizen voting.
In a statement following the signing of the order, Governor Youngkin asserted, "The Virginia model for Election Security works. This isn't a Democrat or Republican issue, it's an American and Virginian issue. Every legal vote deserves to be counted without being watered down by illegal votes or inaccurate machines."
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The newly signed Executive Order 35 stipulates a "documented chain of custody for paper ballots," which is the mandated voting format for all Virginians. The governor emphasized in the order, "Virginia does not use 'voting machines,' just paper ballot counting machines." The order further mandates that these paper ballots must be retained by court clerks for a period of 22 months.
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The order also introduces stricter regulations for absentee ballots, which "may not be counted until the last four digits of a voter's Social Security number and year of birth provided on the envelope are matched to the voter's record in the statewide voter registration system." Governor Youngkin pointed out that Virginia is one of the few states that require "those registering to vote to provide their full 9-digit Social Security number for registration."
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The order also establishes a "triple-check of election result accuracy," necessitating officials to verify the results at the precinct level on election night, followed by a post-election review by the Electoral Board at the locality level, and finally, a check by the Department of Elections staff at the state level prior to certification.
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Governor Youngkin outlined the criteria for maintaining accurate voter lists, revealing that an earlier executive order enabled the state to remove 6,303 non-citizens from the voter rolls since he took office, from January 2022 to July 2024.
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This was achieved through data sharing between the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the Department of Elections, which facilitated the state to "scrub existing voter rolls and remove non-citizens who may have purposefully or accidentally registered to vote."
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The new order mandates the removal of individuals who fail to verify their citizenship to the DMV from the statewide voter registration list and refers them to the state's attorney for "this alleged unlawful conduct."
Finally, the order obligates the Commissioner of the Department of Elections to annually confirm to the governor that the aforementioned election security procedures are "in place," thereby ensuring a robust and secure electoral process in the state of Virginia.
