Despite lawsuit, Virginia's voting machines are among most secure in the US, review finds - Cardinal News

Oct 22, 2024

Two Republican members of the three-person electoral board in Waynesboro have filed a lawsuit to push for hand-counting ballots this Election Day, claiming that the use of counting machines in Virginia violates both the state constitution and federal law. Data shows, however, that the machines currently used to cast in-person ballots and to count those ballots in Virginia are among the most secure in the U.S.

Data provided by Verified Voting shows that the voting equipment used by each locality in Virginia has the highest level of security available, based on its reliability and the records the equipment produces for verification.

Verified Voting is a nonpartisan and nongovernmental organization founded by David Dill, a professor in the School of Engineering and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. Its focus is the strengthening of democracy for all voters by promoting the responsible use of technology in elections. Its review of Virginia’s election machines is part of a nationwide, state-by-state audit of equipment being used in each jurisdiction from 2012 to 2024.

Virginia adds another layer of security to its elections system through risk-limiting audits on its equipment. Those audits take place prior to Election Day and include hand-counting a random sampling of ballots to ensure that the machines are working properly.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has also lauded the safety and security of elections in the commonwealth.

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“I am very confident in what we will see in Virginia as far as an accurate result, reflecting voters’ will. We have done a great job of running a good process, and we have amazing people managing our voter rolls, who are registrars. I just went last week to one of our larger counties and participated in the certification of the counting machines. So, folks can trust our elections,” he said during an appearance Friday on “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business.

Attorney Thomas Ranieri filed the lawsuit against the Virginia Department of Elections and the State Board of Elections on Oct. 4.

Neither of the two Republican members of the Wayneboro electoral board, Curtis Lilly and Scott Mares, responded to questions. Lilly directed questions to Ranieri.

The lawsuit points to a part of the Virginia constitution that says ballots must be counted in public. It states: “Secrecy in casting votes shall be maintained, except as provision may be made for assistance to handicapped voters, but the ballot box or voting machine shall be kept in public view and shall not be opened, nor the ballots canvassed nor the votes counted, in secret.”

Because the ballots are counted by a machine and put into a locked box within that machine — only to be opened by court order — the ballot counting process is not public, Ranieri said.

“While everyone says these things about data and articles and polling, people believe what they can see,” Ranieri said in an interview Friday. “I don’t trust anyone that refuses to show their work.”

He filed the suit on behalf of Mares and Lilly against Susan Beals, commissioner of Virginia’s Department of Elections, and John O’Bannon, chairman of the State Board of Elections. The suit demands that ballots be hand-counted in public view in order for Lilly and Mares to certify the election results in Waynesboro.

The Cardinal News 2024 Virginia Voter Guide is your comprehensive, state-wide resource for elections, voter information, and candidate profiles. Check it out here!

Ranieri said he would counsel his clients to certify the election in Waynesboro only if a trial court demands it, but if the case isn’t heard until after the election, he would advise them against certifying the election unless ballots are hand-counted.

“The whole purpose of doing this was to make sure that it was dealt with before the election,” he said. He has not yet been notified of a court date.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, said in an email Friday that the lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law.

“The Attorney General’s office looks forward to defeating this case in court,” Shaun Kenney said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Elections declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Ranieri said the idea for this lawsuit was born at the Republican State Convention earlier this year when he met two other people who also expressed concerns regarding election security.

“The three of us talked about some of their ideas, one of which was this ‘secret counting’ idea. It’s against the Virginia constitution, can we argue that this is in some way secret?” Ranieri said. “I said, ‘I think so, let me put the argument together.’”

To get the courts to hear their lawsuit and to avoid issues with standing — or the capacity of a party to bring a lawsuit in court — the group decided to seek out election board members in a small jurisdiction, Ranieri said. He was introduced to Lilly and Mares who, Ranieri said, had also expressed concerns about election security.

“I tried to make a suit that was as neutral as possible,” Ranieri said. “I left it really very much in the realm of, ‘Look, this violates the Virginia constitution.’”

Lisa Jeffers, the Waynesboro registrar, said the lawsuit has put an undue burden on the elections office and its workers during an already busy election season. She now spends a large portion of her time, she said, trying to restore the confidence of voters and ensuring them that her office will follow state statute.

“I spend the majority of my time now answering emails, most not very pleasant. The phone is constantly ringing with angry voters asking questions about whether their ballots are going to count,” she said via email on Friday. “This has had a very negative [effect] on this office as if myself and my staff (which are ALL Part-Time) are the ones doing this.”

Sharon Van Name, the Democrat on the Waynesboro electoral board, said she did not know that her colleagues had planned to sue the State Board of Elections until after the lawsuit was filed.

“It was a complete surprise to me,” she said in a phone interview on Friday.

Under state statute, each locality must have three electoral board members, with two coming from the governor’s party and the third from the opposing party. The electoral board for each locality currently is made up of two Republicans and one Democrat.

Van Name noted that both Lilly and Mares had certified multiple elections prior to the lawsuit without any apparent issue.

“It’s creating a lot of stress in the election process that doesn’t need to be there,” Van Name said. “From that [Verified Voting] data, we are a model of how to run elections.”

“The idea that hand counting is going to be more accurate is just ridiculous,” she said. “I certainly hope that they don’t prevail because, my goodness, it will be less accurate and so much slower, just delay everything. It’s going to be a nightmare, honestly.”

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Elizabeth Beyer is our Richmond-based state politics and government reporter. More by Elizabeth Beyer