Spanberger signs executive order on elections, reenters Va. into bipartisan voter registration group

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Amid a statewide redistricting referendum, Governor Abigail Spanberger has signed an executive order on election security and has moved to reenter Virginia into a national, bipartisan voter registration group.

“The sanctity of accurate, fair, open, and secure elections is core to our identity as Americans and Virginians,” the executive order reads. “Virginia must lead the way by continuing to improve its election security processes to ensure all Virginia voters are able to successfully register to vote and cast their ballots.”

The order directs the Commissioner of the Department of Elections to certify that various election procedures are in place, including ballot security, counting machine testing and certification, and election result accuracy. It also requires that any systematic efforts to remove “ineligible voters from the voter registration system based on evidence of ineligibility” are completed at least 90 days before an election.

Jeff Schapiro, a political analyst with the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, says the timing of the executive order is key, and that much of it serves to inspire confidence in Virginia’s elections system.

“Keeping in mind that Virginia will have a referendum in the middle of April on a highly contentious, anti-Trump gerrymander that’s being pushed by the Democrats, among them Governor Spanberger,” Schapiro said. “This is all to...take advantage of, or encourage elevated sensitivities to this approaching referendum by making sure people know that their votes will count, whether they’re cast early or cast in person on April 21.”

29News reached out to former Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is leading the charge against redistricting in Virginia, for comment on the executive order but did not receive a response by time of publication.

Schapiro also noted that the order coincides with the national debate over the “SAVE Act” in Congress, which would impact millions of voters across the U.S.

“The contrast with what’s been going on in Washington, particularly the narrative from the President of the United States that our system is rife with corruption - clearly the Governor is trying to offer a counter-narrative, one that clearly plugs into a place like Virginia where Trump is widely unpopular,” Schapiro said.

It also moves to re-enter Virginia into the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as “ERIC,” a bipartisan coalition of 26 states, which share voter roll information with each other to ensure that only eligible voters are able to cast ballots. In 2012, former Republican Governor Bob McDonnell helped found ERIC with six other states - Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, and Washington - with the goal of strengthening voter rolls.

In 2023, former Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin pulled Virginia out of the agreement, the eighth state at the time to leave the group.

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