Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Elections Technology topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Virginia elections official reports improvement in Verus performance; project funded with HAVA and general‑fund appropriations
Summary
Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals told the subcommittee that Verus replacement work continues, pointed to improved system reliability following recent changes, and detailed remaining funding and planned work on campaign finance and other modules.
Susan Beals, Commissioner of Elections, updated the committee on the Verus replacement project and related needs, saying the system’s performance has improved but additional work and planning remain.
Beals described performance problems during prior redistricting and election seasons and said the project’s goals include a cloud‑first architecture, the ability to run redistricting and maintenance without system outages and limiting the data passed with each record change to required personally identifiable information.
She summarized project funding: the team used a $10.2 million Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grant, a $2.0 million state match, and a $16.7 million general‑fund appropriation for a total of $28.9 million; about $15 million has been spent so far and roughly $13 million remains. Beals said the project has completed 22 Agile sprints and that registrars’ post‑election survey results show 65% reported improved reliability in 2024.
Beals told the committee the team has increased server capacity, cleaned technical debt, automated morning reports so registrars do not overload the system at startup, and coordinated a statewide change freeze through VITA for the November general election to prevent service disruptions. She said there were no major issues in three statewide elections last year and noted external recognition for the election‑night reporting module.
The commissioner also asked for planning funding in the governor’s budget — $750,000 — to scope replacement or upgrades to campaign finance and reporting modules. Beals said the campaign finance module should support automated penalty notices, online payment of fines, enhanced public searchability and easier filing for committees and candidates.
On ranked‑choice voting, Beals said Verus’ ability to support RCV depends in part on voting‑machine vendors and certification, but Virginia has an election‑night reporting module that produced precinct‑level breakouts and has been noticed by national outlets; some other states have modeled parts of their reporting on Virginia’s system.
Beals closed by asking the committee for continued support to finish the replacement work and to begin planning additional modules; she offered to provide the committee with a clearer implementation status timeline the senators requested so members can respond to constituent inquiries about system performance.
