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Key Swing State Mandates Paper Ballots

Swing State Mandates Paper Ballots

byAnastasia Boushee
October 15, 2024
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Election security advocates are celebrating after a key swing state governor signed an executive order mandating paper ballots in the upcoming November election.

On Wednesday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) signed Executive Order 35, which codifies the election security measures that have been implemented under his administration — including a requirement for all votes to be cast with a paper ballot, a “documented chain of custody” that will allow ballots to be tracked through “every step of the process,” and a ban on voting machines. The only machines that will be used are paper ballot-counting machines that will not be connected to the internet.

Executive Order 35 also requires the Virginia Department of Elections to remove “non-citizens who may have purposefully or accidentally registered to vote.” According to the Youngkin administration’s records, more than 6,300 non-citizens were removed from voter rolls from January 2022-July 2024. The state’s Department of Elections also removed 79,867 deceased people from voter rolls, along with registered voters who had moved out of Virginia.

In a statement about the executive order, Youngkin pointed out that 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. In Virginia, we don’t play games and our model for election security is working,” Youngkin added.

The statement went on to detail the procedure for counting and verifying paper ballots, which read: “We use 100 percent paper ballots with a strict chain of custody. We use counting machines, not voting machines, that are tested prior to every election and never connected to the internet. We do not mass mail ballots. We monitor our drop boxes 24/7. We verify the legal presence and identity of voters using DMV data and other trusted data sources to update our voter rolls daily, not only adding new voters, but scrubbing the lists to remove those that should not be on it, like the deceased, individuals that have moved, and non-citizens that have accidentally or maliciously attempted to register.”

Youngkin appeared on Fox News after signing the executive order, where he told viewers: “Call me crazy, but I think American elections should be decided by American citizens and Virginia elections should be decided by Virginians.”

The Virginia governor received praise from many conservatives about the measure, including former President Donald Trump.

“The beautiful Commonwealth of Virginia, superbly led by Governor Glenn Youngkin, IS TAKING A STRONG LEAD IN SECURING THE ELECTION IN NOVEMBER — PROTECTING EVERY LEGAL VOTE AND KEEPING ILLEGAL ALIENS THAT HAVE BEEN LET INTO OUR COUNTRY FROM VOTING,” the Republican presidential nominee wrote in a Truth Social post.

“All votes will be on paper ballots and counted safely and fairly, not by machines connected to the internet — A big security risk. We must work hard to make sure the Election is FAIR and SECURE!!! EVERY STATE SHOULD FOLLOW VIRGINIA’S LEAD. We need volunteers to watch the polls – So important,” he added.

“The Election on November 5th will be the MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY. Thank you Glenn, GREAT JOB!!!” Trump concluded.

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Anastasia Boushee
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