Editorial: Virginia’s elections less secure after reckless withdraw from voter verification program

November’s legislative elections could play a pivotal role in much that happens in Virginia for years to come. With much at stake, it’s vital that those elections be secure and that Virginia’s citizens trust that the results are fair and valid. But that security and trust are in jeopardy because the administration of Gov.

Glenn Youngkin this spring rashly withdrew the commonwealth from a multistate partnership that had worked for years to make voter rolls accurate and help new voters register. Now, with early voting starting on Sept. 22, all 40 seats in the state Senate and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates are on the line.

After recent nonpartisan, once-every-decade redistricting changed districts and prospects, nearly 30 legislators, from both parties, decided not to seek re-election, leaving more open seats than usual. Though the number isn’t high, enough seats are expected to be truly competitive that control of the legislature and the power balance in state government are riding on this election. Heading into the election, Virginia has divided government.

Youngkin’s election in 2021 came after Democrats had held the top job for eight years. Republicans also regained narrow control of the state House; That left Democrats with only narrow control of the state Senate, and this year Senate seats are on the ballot. A relatively small percentage of the vote could give Republicans control of the Senate as well as the House and free rein to pursue Youngkin’s agenda.

Or Democrats could hold onto Senate control, or regain control of the House, or both. Of course, the security of any election should be essential. For our democracy to work, every legitimate vote should be counted — and every vote counted should be legitimate.

Back in 2012, Virginia’s last Republican governor before Youngkin, Bob McDonnell, joined with six other states to create the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to deal with a growing problem of invalid voter registrations. By 2020, 32 states and the District of Columbia had joined ERIC, which proved effective in keeping voter rolls accurate, up-to-date and easily checked among states. ERIC’s success was one of the reasons that, despite what we hear, voter fraud is quite rare.

Then Donald Trump and his cronies started spreading lies about his loss in the 2020 presidential election. They took on ERIC as part of their baseless and cynical conspiracy theory nonsense, saying that ERIC skewed voter rolls to help Democrats. Predictably, states governed by Republicans began withdrawing from ERIC because of Trump’s claims.

Virginia joined the nonsense parade. In May, Susan Beals, Virginia’s commissioner of elections and a Youngkin appointee, announced Virginia’s withdrawal from ERIC. One of her reasons was that other states had left.

She also parroted the debunked claims that ERIC handled voter data improperly. Beals cut Virginia’s ties with the system it had helped found, one that was successfully working to keep voter rolls accurate. Even though a vitally important statewide election was only months away, her plan to replace ERIC was … apparently nonexistent.

Now, with the election looming, she’s talking about it. In August, VPM, Virginia’s nonprofit public broadcasting company, reported that Beals has been in discussions with officials in other states about creating something that sounds a lot like ERIC. Of course, that’s not going to do much to identify and prevent any possible voter fraud in November.

Too little, too late, and all a result of an action that never should have been taken. By joining the election-denier hysteria spread by Trump, the Youngkin administration left Virginia’s election system less secure and the public less trusting. The willingness of Beals and other Republican state election officials to abandon ERIC also rewards and encourages the unscrupulous behavior of Trump and his ilk, who knowingly spread lies to whip up support for their latest schemes.

That so many people blindly believe and act on such disinformation is a greater threat to our democracy than are the rare instances of voter fraud. Sign up for email newsletters.