Hello,
As you might have seen, earlier this month we released our 2023 Virginia Election: Procedures, Vulnerabilities, and Threat Analysis Report. This report outlines the personnel and processes that oversee counting and certification in Virginia.
In the report, you can find a detailed timeline that visualizes when these processes take place, information about each of the counting and certification processes, as well as detailed research about election personnel in our Research Library.
In addition to making sure you have this research, we wanted to highlight a few races we’ll be watching in Pennsylvania, key dates in the PA counting and certification timeline, as well as areas of concern from the 2022 cycle that we’ll be monitoring in PA (see more below).
As always, our goal is to instill confidence in our election systems and the dedicated public servants who support elections, while also identifying potential vulnerabilities to aid partners in targeting corrective action.
We’re available for questions and happy to share additional research — please get in touch via: info@informingdemocracy.org.
Happy voting and vote counting,
The Informing Democracy Team
Key Dates to Note for Virginia
Here’s what you can expect in the next few days and through election week. Click here for a detailed timeline of the vote counting and certification processes in VA.
Before Election Day
Tuesday, October 31: The first of at least two preprocessing meetings will take place.
Friday, November 3 / Saturday, November 4: The second mandatory preprocessing meeting takes place.
Monday, November 6: A third, optional preprocessing meeting will take place if the preprocessing of ballots was not completed at the second meeting.
Election Day
Tuesday, November 7: Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, November 8: The Electoral Boards will meet (typically by noon) to begin hearing voters present evidence about the validity of their provisional ballot. This process can extend until Monday, November 13.
Races We’re Watching in Pennsylvania
Click here for a detailed timeline of the vote counting and certification processes in PA.
State Supreme Court
This Court is the final arbiter for election cases brought under state law. As one example, following the 2022 election, in a pivotal ruling the Court deadlocked 3-3, they ordered election officials not to count mail ballots that arrived on time but were missing the date or had the wrong date due to voter error. Had the court's Chief Justice Max Baer not died weeks before, those ballots may well have been counted.
The current partisan balance of the State Supreme Court is a 4-2 Democratic majority, with one open seat. Justices serve 10 year teams, leaving an indelible mark on the legacy and jurisprudence of the Court.
Commonwealth Courts and Superior Court
There is also one vacant seat up on one of two of the state's Commonwealth Courts and four seats (two open seats and two seats with an up or down retention vote) on the state's Superior Courts. These courts hear appeals on election law cases from lower courts and issue intermediary appeal decisions in these cases before potential review by the Supreme Court.
County Commissioners
All County Commissioners across the state are up for election this year. County Commissioners play an important role in directly administering elections as the County Board of Elections. They are also responsible for many areas of local policy making and governance. Additionally, in home-rule counties, five out of seven election boards or their equivalents are also up for election or reappointment, as well as the entire city commission in Philadelphia.
Issues of Concern in PA from the 2022 Election
Below are areas of concern that arose during the 2022 election that we'll be on the lookout for this election.
Citizen-Petitioned Recounts
In 2022, there were around 150 frivolous recount petitions filed across the Commonwealth, an unprecedented and widespread use of the 1927 statute allowing for these petitioner-initiated recounts. Some of these recount petitions delayed certification, such as in Berks, Bucks and Columbia Counties, however, none of them changed the outcome of the results.
Counties that Voted to Exclude Ballots from Certification During the May 2022 Primary
In Berks, Fayette, and Lancaster Counties in 2022, some commissioners initially excluded certain ballots from their certification in the primary elections until ordered to certify the full results by court order; we’ll be monitoring their activity closely for the administration of this election, and to know if the commissioners that caused delays in 2022 will still be administering elections in 2024.
Luzerne County Performance
Luzerne County was the focus of much ire for delaying certification during the 2022 General Election due to a severe paper ballot shortage that affected election day voting at polling locations across the county. Luzerne’s past actions have already been a focus ahead of the election — in March of this year the Committee on House Administration held a hearing focused on the Luzerne ballot shortage and a Spotlight PA investigation found that "inexperience and staff turnover" was behind the meltdown. Examples such as these have colored the Joint State Government Commission's Election Law Advisory Board's recommendation that Pennsylvania adopt changes to require a formalized training process or manual for election directors.