There will be no voting machines used in Virginia in the presidential election this year. As part of a larger election security executive order signed Wednesday, August 7, Governor Glenn Youngkin mandated all votes be recorded on paper ballots. Unsurprisingly, former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee for 2024, backed his fellow Republican. But then, so does Democratic Party nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris - that is, if her stance from 2019 remains unchanged. Rather, it’s some of the other security measures in Youngkin’s order that are likely to stir up controversy across the aisle.
Election Security – Beyond Paper Ballots
The requirement to use only paper ballots may be the headline issue from Governor Youngkin’s announcement, but it’s also a national trend that appears to be embraced by Republicans and Democrats alike. Accusations of hacking came from both sides during the last two presidential elections, and it seems getting back to the basics with paper ballots is something many Americans of all political stripes can get behind.
Where disagreement arises, however, seems to be in verifying voters themselves. According to the new executive order, Old Dominion registration rolls are checked and updated regularly, and anyone who has moved away or died is removed. Any new applicants who can’t validate their citizenship are dropped as well. A full social security number is required to register, and a state-issued photo ID is required to vote in person - and, of course, citizenship is verified by the DMV when such IDs are issued. Mail-in ballots are allowed, but they aren’t the default. An application is required to receive one.
To Democrats, these measures are blatant violations of voters’ rights. Requiring ID and refusing to bulk mail absentee ballots disenfranchises certain minority populations, they claim, despite the fact that state-issued identification is required for any age-limited aspect of adult life. Democrats are okay with carding folks for tobacco and alcohol – and they demand universal background checks for gun purchases – but verifying identity and eligibility to vote is apparently too discriminatory.
Voting Goes Back to the Basics
In the 2020 election cycle, paper ballots – whether filled out by hand or printed by a voting machine – were used in more than half the states, red and blue alike. So, what are the standard methods? When it comes to recording and counting votes, there are several options. As explained by Ballotpedia:
Optical scan paper ballot systems: Voters mark their votes by filling in an oval, box, or similar shape on a paper ballot. The paper ballots are scanned either at the polling place or at a central location.
Direct recording electronic (DRE) systems: DRE systems employ computers that record votes directly into the computers' memories. These interfaces may incorporate touchscreens, dials, or mechanical buttons. The voter's choices are stored by the computer on a cartridge or hard drive. Some DRE systems are also equipped with Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) printers, which produce paper records that can be preserved in case they need to be tabulated in an audit or recount.
Ballot-marking devices and systems (BMDs): A BMD "allows for the electronic presentation of a ballot, electronic selection of valid contest options, and the production of a human-readable paper ballot, but does not make any other lasting record of the voter’s selections." Initially used primarily to accommodate voters with disabilities, all voters in some locations use BMDs.
And, of course, there’s the old-school method of counting paper ballots by hand.
In the 2020 election, 22 states had hand-marked paper ballots as the norm, with BMDs as an option to make it more handicap accessible. Most of those states – Virginia included – used optical scanners to count the ballots, though eight also included a hand count.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
BMDs, which don’t save voter data in the system and still result in a paper ballot for the individual to verify, were standard for everyone in Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, and South Carolina. Many states that used DRE systems as the baseline or as an option included voter-verified paper records for the sake of audits and recounts. Only one state – Louisiana – required the use of DREs without VVPAT.
The country has been trending away from online voting in recent years. In 2022, the Brennan Center for Justice estimated that about 92% of voters either filled out a paper ballot by hand or submitted one printed by a BMD.
Common Ground Against a Common Threat?
Though controversial in the wake of the 2016 and 2020 elections, voting software certainly has its advantages. In an ideal world with no digital shenanigans, electronic voting allows people to vote quickly and accurately, and tabulation can occur nigh instantly. The data can then be used to track activity and voting trends. Proponents also point out that these machines leave the issue of ballot stuffing – that is, more ballots being presented than there are actual voters – firmly in the past.
But any online system brings its own issues – hence the controversy. First and foremost is security. Yes, electronic systems eliminate traditional methods of election fraud like ballot stuffing, but they’re also vulnerable to malware and other digital manipulations that simply don’t exist for paper ballots. Then there’s reliability. It’s hard for a paper ballot to fail – but voting machines can and do break down, and software systems do crash.
“We use 100% paper ballots with a strict chain of custody,” Governor Youngkin said. “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.”
Trump took to social media to express his support: "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 former president posted on Truth Social. “All votes will be on paper ballots and counted safely and fairly, not by machines connected to the internet – a big security risk.”
Back in 2019, Kamala Harris tweeted a similar sentiment. “Paper ballots are the smartest, safest way to ensure your vote is secure against attacks by foreign actors,” she wrote. “Russia can’t hack a piece of paper like they can a computer.”
Denying the validity of election results and accusing the other side of cheating (with or without the aid of outside actors) is a time-honored tradition in America, never mind that each party seems to forget that fact when labeling the opposition “election deniers” or “conspiracy theorists.” The post-election allegations and heated rhetoric far predate the advent of electronic voting machines, and it will almost certainly survive them. But, for now, the nation seems to have reached a bipartisan agreement that paper ballots are superior – call it common ground against a common threat to election security.
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