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State Board certifies Jan. 7 special elections, flags Rockingham reporting error and posts RLA results
Summary
The Virginia State Board of Elections unanimously certified abstracts for three Jan. 7, 2025 special-election contests, reviewed a Rockingham County reporting error that did not change outcomes, and heard a staff report that November risk‑limiting audits confirmed machine tabulation within statutory risk limits.
The Virginia State Board of Elections voted unanimously to certify abstracts and sign certificates for winners in the Jan. 7, 2025 special elections, the board said during its January meeting. Commissioner Beals told the board staff had reviewed abstracts and write‑in certifications submitted by local general registrars and canvassing boards and recommended the board sign and endorse the certified statements.
Beals, who presented the abstracts, told members that local electoral boards completed provisional‑ballot canvases and that selected department staff had confirmed the abstracts matched locally reported returns before recommending certification. The board called the roll and recorded unanimous Aye votes to certify and sign the election certificates.
Why it matters: certification is the formal state step that produces signed statements of election—documents required by the Code of Virginia and necessary for sending certified results to the General Assembly and other officials.
In the same presentation, Beals notified the board of an administrative reporting error in Rockingham County that was discovered after certification and after supporting documents had been sent to the national archivist. He said local staff misused the election night reporting system; department review concluded the error did not change the outcome of any contest and did not trigger recounts. The department asked Rockingham officials to explain the root cause and to confirm corrected numbers to ensure accuracy.
Beals emphasized training gaps in Rockingham: the department found no record that the locality completed required election‑night reporting training during 2024. "Training has been an important part of ELECT," he said, urging localities to familiarize themselves with the election night reporting system introduced in 2023.
Staff also presented the November 2024 risk‑limiting audit report. The department reported two RLAs—one for a U.S. House district and one for the statewide U.S. Senate race—met the 10% risk limit and confirmed the tabulation with over 90% confidence. The RLA report will be posted to the Department of Elections website, staff said.
The board did not take further action on the RLA report; members thanked local registrars and election officials for completing the audits and the work to verify the results. The board temporarily suspended the meeting so members could sign certificates for the special elections and then returned to continue other business.
