State Board of Elections certifies Nov. 2024 results and authorizes Attorney General inspections

The Virginia State Board of Elections voted unanimously to certify the abstracts of votes from the Nov. 2024 general and special elections and to sign certificates of election, the board confirmed at its December meeting.

Elect staff recommended certification after reviewing abstracts, write‑in certifications and election night reporting data. "Therefore, it is elect staff's recommendation that the board certify the statements to be correct and sign the statements and certificates of election," a staff presenter told the board.

A board member moved to certify the statements as correct and to sign the certificates; the motion was seconded and, after a roll-call vote, the board recorded aye votes from Chairman O'Bannon, Vice chair Dantz (transcript spelling variant Danz), Delegate Marix/Marix (transcript variant), Mister Weinstein and Secretary Elvis Long. Chairman O'Bannon later summarized the board's conclusion: "So the bottom line is we had safe and fair elections in Virginia this year." The board noted the physical signing of certificates will follow completion of a closed session held during the meeting.

During the same meeting the board authorized the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia to inspect election materials for a period of one year "for the purpose of inspecting election materials to ensure the accuracy of the returns or the purity of elections in Commonwealth Of Virginia," per the motion on the floor. The motion specified that each political party may have a representative present during such inspections and that the state board or its representative shall provide reasonable advance notice of inspections. The authorization passed by roll call with the same recorded aye votes.

At the meeting the board also moved to go into closed session to discuss pending or threatened litigation, citing a Virginia code provision in the motion; the motion listed several staff and Office of the Attorney General personnel who would attend to assist the board during closed session. After returning to open session, the board voted to certify that only matters properly exempted under the cited statute had been discussed.

Votes at a glance — Certification and formal motions from the meeting: • Certification of Nov. 2024 abstracts and signing of certificates: Motion passed by roll-call vote (recorded ayes from Chairman O'Bannon, Vice chair Dantz/Danz, Delegate Marix, Mister Weinstein, Secretary Elvis Long). Certificates to be signed after closed session. • Motion to enter closed session to discuss pending/threatened litigation: Passed by roll-call vote. Named attendees for closed session included Susan Bills, Andrew Murphy, Dennis Polio and Steve Koski. • Authorization for the Office of the Attorney General to inspect election materials for one year: Passed by roll-call vote; each political party may have a representative during inspections.

The board said it will begin signing certificates on Dec. 17 and will provide further documentation as required by law.