Youngkin’s EO – Election Security or Voter Suppression?

Days before early voting got underway in Virginia for the 2025 election, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an Executive Order “to Further Enhance Security of the Commonwealth’s Electoral Process.” According to ABC 13 NewsNow,

Executive Order 53 directs the Virginia Department of Elections to work more closely with federal partners, including the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Election Assistance Commission, to improve data sharing and voter roll maintenance. It mandates the continued use of the federal SAVE database, which identifies non-citizens, and instructs the state to test new voting system standards and conduct a full election preparedness exercise before early voting begins on Sept. 19.

Governor Youngkin said Virginia already has “one of the most secure election systems in the country.” Why, then, does he believe there’s a need for more security as well as the involvement of federal agencies in a state election? EO 53 includes redundant security measures because Virginia law already prohibits non-citizens from registering to vote.

Democrats raised the alarm about EO 53, describing it as another form of voter suppression tactics. State Senator Aaron Rouse (D SD 22), chair of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee, called it “voter suppression and intimidation disguised as election integrity.”

The main concerns are that EO 53:

• will lead to unlawful voter purges because it requires the removal of allegedly ineligible voters from the rolls and will do so in a haphazard, inaccurate way
• expands use of DHS’ SAVE database to target non-citizens
• mandates election preparedness exercises when voter fraud is minimal
• will undermine voter confidence in elections

Rouse also emphasized that Governor Youngkin vetoed legislation that would have prevented unlawful voter purges and improved safeguards for eligible voters.

Only time will tell if Executive Order 53 will help, hinder, or make no difference in Virginia elections.

If you find you’re no longer registered when you show up to vote or believe you were wrongfully told you are ineligible to vote, you can take advantage of same day voter registration or cast a provisional ballot. Learn about your voter rights in Virginia.