Virginia State Board of Elections certifies June primary winners, sets ballot order and approves voting system

The Commonwealth of Virginia State Board of Elections on July 1 unanimously certified abstracts of votes from the June 2025 primaries and formally declared the winners to be each party’s nominee for the November election.

Elections staff told the board they had compared local abstracts with the state election-night reporting system, asked localities to explain discrepancies, and completed validation checks. "It is Elect staff's recommendation that the board certify the statements to be correct and sign the statements," staff said. Board members voted to certify and agreed to sign the certification statements at the end of the meeting.

In a procedural action that sets how names will appear on ballots through July 31, 2026, the board conducted two public drawings to determine ballot order. A draw between the two major parties put the Democratic ticket first and the Republican ticket second on ballots; a second draw determined order among recognized additional parties (Forward then Libertarian). The board then moved to certify those determinations and approved a table of party abbreviations for general and special election ballots through July 31, 2026.

The board also voted to certify use of the ES&S EVS voting system version 6.5.0.0. Staff presented documentation including an EAC approval certificate, an SLI compliance letter, and results from a mock election held in Chesterfield County; they reported that the vendor’s technical data package and testing met the state’s certification requirements. A motion to certify the system passed on a unanimous roll call.

Separately, the board approved an amended "inquiry as to residency" form to reflect statutory changes from the 2025 General Assembly that shorten the registration-closure period. Staff said the form change was effective July 1, 2025. The board also reviewed and approved annual delegations of authority that allocate certain duties between the State Board and the Department of Elections and adopted an amended policy governing electronic participation in board meetings, which limits fully virtual meetings to no more than two per year (or 50% of meetings), requires advance notice to the chair for remote participation, and asks public commenters to have cameras on and faces visible except for narrow religious or medical exceptions.

The board voted to go into a brief closed session to discuss pending litigation and reconvened with a roll-call certification that only the matters identified in the motion were discussed. The meeting adjourned after members signed or prepared to sign required certification statements.

Votes at a glance: - Certification of June 2025 primary abstracts (motion to certify statements and declare party nominees): Passed; recorded roll-call ‘‘aye’’ votes from Chairman O'Bannon, Vice Chair Danz, Dr. Stolle, Mr. Peterson and Secretary Elvis Long. - Certification of ballot order for 08/01/2025–07/31/2026 (Democrat, Republican, Forward, Libertarian): Passed; unanimous roll call. - Approval of party abbreviations for ballots through 07/31/2026: Passed; unanimous roll call. - Certification of ES&S EVS voting system v6.5.0.0: Passed; unanimous roll call. - Approval of amended inquiry-as-to-residency form (effective 07/01/2025): Passed; unanimous roll call. - Approval of proposed delegations of authority and rescission of prior delegations: Passed; unanimous roll call. - Adoption of amended electronic participation policy (effective 07/01/2025): Passed; unanimous roll call.

What’s next: Staff will sign certification statements and post the approved forms and reports on the Department of Elections website; the voting system certification record will be added to the state’s list of certified systems. The board also instructed staff to publish the updated party abbreviations and to implement the amended electronic participation policy immediately.