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Election officer urges changes to absentee ballot rules and to ES&S pollbook functionality
Summary
Richard Lister, an election officer in Greater Richmond, told the State Board of Elections that absentee ballot procedures and ES&S Express pollbook features create vulnerabilities; he urged legislative and vendor action to require provisional ballots when absentee ballots are not surrendered and to remove pollbook-to-phone communications.
During public comment at the May 1 meeting, Richard Lister, who identified himself as an election officer in Greater Richmond, raised two election-security concerns and urged the board to pursue fixes.
Lister said voters who were issued absentee ballots may vote on a machine during the 45-day early in-person voting period without surrendering their absentee ballot; they can state they misplaced it and vote on a machine, while on election day a voter who fails to surrender the absentee ballot must use a provisional ballot. Lister recommended that the board encourage the General Assembly to amend the Code of Virginia so that any voter issued an absentee ballot who does not surrender it must be required to vote a provisional ballot throughout the entire early voting period.
Lister also said ES&S modified its Express poll books to allow pollbook operators to communicate directly with voters' cell phones — for example, to send a queue code — and argued that any direct electronic communication from a pollbook operator to a voter's phone "lends itself to potentially fraudulent action, such as telling the voter how to vote." He asked the board to direct the vendor to rescind the functionality.
Board members asked questions about whether potential changes should be implemented by statute, regulation or procedure and whether those suggestions fit the board's review of regulations this year. Staff said the board controls regulations and procedures but that statutes are set by the General Assembly and that the board would review the public comments as part of its regulatory work.
No formal action was taken at the meeting on either proposal; the board said it would consider the comments during its upcoming review of regulations and procedures.
