VIRGINIA - Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order on Friday designed to further enhance the security of the Commonwealth’s elections.
According to Youngkin’s office, Executive Order 53 directs the Virginia Commissioner and Department of Elections to coordinate with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to ensure voting data is securely shared and that ineligible voters are purged from the voting rolls in compliance with state and federal law.
The order also requires continued and expanded use of the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE database, which identifies non-citizens, according to the governor’s office. Virginia will adopt updated deferral voting system guidelines, according to the order, while implementing standards that remain stricter than federal requirements. Finally, Youngkin’s office says the executive order requires statewide election preparedness exercises before early voting to test coordination, response plans, and interagency communications.
“Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our democracy,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “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.”
Youngkin previously issued two other executive orders in 2024 focused on election security. Executive Order 31 established a multi-agency data sharing protocol regarding voter list maintenance. Executive Order 35 included ballot security procedures and counting machine tests in election security efforts while bolstering standards for accurate voter roll maintenance.