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Public commenters ask Virginia elections board to review HAVA complaint handling and cybersecurity safeguards
Summary
At its March meeting the State Board of Elections heard public comments urging review of how the Department of Elections handles HAVA complaints and calling for a study of recent federal cybersecurity changes and staff cuts at CISA.
At the March meeting of the Commonwealth of Virginia State Board of Elections, public commenters urged the board to review how the Department of Elections handles complaints under the Help America Vote Act and to study recent changes in federal cybersecurity arrangements that they said could leave state voting systems exposed.
Jim Buttholff, a resident of Leesburg, told the board he and others are concerned that Department of Elections staff have been “categorizing erroneously” some HAVA complaints as outside the scope of federal law and then downgrading them from formal to informal status. He asked the board to place an item on a future agenda with “one chart summary” showing how many complaints were submitted as formal HAVA complaints, how many staff downgraded to informal, and the reasons cited for any downgrades.
The request, Buttholff said, was intended to give the public “confidence that perhaps these complaints [were] treated seriously.” He described the effect of downgrading as reducing follow-up and leaving filers “flabbergasted” and without recourse.
Joan Port, president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia, asked the board to “immediately direct the Department of Elections to study the damage this can be can do to the Virginia voting system” after recent reports that federal safeguards and task forces have been changed or discontinued. Port named the discontinuation of an FBI task force on Russian intervention and staffing changes at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) as specific concerns and noted that “Virginia has a gubernatorial election, among others, this fall.”
Both commenters requested a formal response or a staff presentation at a future meeting. Board members did not take formal action during public comment; the public comment period concluded and the meeting proceeded to the agenda.
Why this matters: HAVA complaint handling determines whether potential violations of federal voting protections receive formal investigation; cybersecurity coordination with federal agencies is a front-line defense for electoral infrastructure, particularly ahead of statewide elections.
Sources: Remarks by Jim Buttholff (resident of Leesburg) and Joan Port (president, League of Women Voters of Virginia) during the March State Board of Elections meeting. The board did not vote on these requests during the meeting.
