Governor Glenn Youngkin has issued Executive Order 53 to strengthen the security of Virginia’s elections. The order outlines measures aimed at improving the accuracy of voter rolls, updating voting system standards, and increasing cooperation with state and federal agencies.
Under Executive Order 53, the Virginia Commissioner and Department of Elections are directed to work closely with federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). This coordination is intended to ensure secure data sharing and prompt removal of ineligible voters from registration lists in line with state and federal laws.
The order also calls for ongoing use of DHS’s SAVE database to help identify non-citizens on voter rolls, participation in federal technology evaluation programs, and adoption of updated federal voting system guidelines (VVSG 2.0) into Virginia’s certification standards. These standards will remain stricter than current federal requirements.
Additionally, Executive Order 53 requires the Virginia Fusion Center and Department of Emergency Management to conduct a statewide election preparedness exercise before early voting begins. The exercise is designed to test coordination, response plans, and communication among agencies involved in election administration.
Governor Youngkin said, “Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our democracy. That’s why it is so important that we do everything we can to make our elections as secure as possible, ensuring that our lists are accurate and our systems are reliable. The Executive Order I am issuing today builds upon our previous work to make Virginia’s election security the best in the nation. Virginia has paper ballots, counting machines and not voting machines, no internet connections, along with extensive procedures to remove ineligible individuals from the voter rolls.”
Executive Order 53 follows earlier actions by Youngkin’s administration focused on election integrity. Last year’s Executive Orders 31 and 35 established protocols for multi-agency data sharing related to voter list maintenance and expanded efforts toward ballot security procedures, rigorous testing of counting machines, and maintaining accurate voter rolls. Other initiatives include data-sharing agreements with eleven states for list maintenance purposes, conducting two National Change of Address mailings, and auditing deceased records to streamline removal processes.
The full text of Governor Youngkin’s executive order is available online.
